The 2002 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

The 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2001, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on April 1, 2002 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia...

, took place at Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

. Its winner received the Mid-American Conference

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

's automatic bid

Automatic bid

Automatic bid is a term generally used to describe a bid or berth to a tournament, granted based on performance in prior competition, and not based on subjective picking...

 to the 2002 NCAA Tournament

2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta, Georgia...

. It was a single-elimination tournament

Single-elimination tournament

A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...

 with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes

Bye (sports)

A bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...

 in the first round. All MAC teams were invited to participate. Kent State

Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball

The Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represents Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The Golden Flashes compete in the Mid-American Conference East Division and last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2008...

, the MAC regular season winner, received the number one seed in the tournament.

Standings

2001–02 MAC men's basketball standings
	| Conf	| Overall
Team	W	L	PCT	W	L	PCT
MAC East
MAC West

Seeding

1. Kent State
2. Ball State
3. Bowling Green
4. Toledo
5. Ohio
6. Western Michigan
7. Miami
8. Marshall
9. Northern Illinois
10. Buffalo
11. Akron
12. Central Michigan
13. Eastern Michigan

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period