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Kent State basketball coaches ponder if MAC in Elite Eight is possible
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- Kent State basketball coaches ponder if MAC in Elite Eight is possible
Trevor Huffman, Antonio Gates , Andrew Mitchell and Demetric Shaw.
A clunky 4-4 start followed by a turnaround and a 21-game winning streak.
March Madness upsets over Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh.
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A final record of 30-6.
The Kent State University men's basketball team making a memorable run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament during the 2001-02 season remains the pinnacle not only for KSU but also for any Mid-American Conference hoops program.
"The season was magical," former Golden Flashes coach Stan Heath told the Beacon Journal.
However, the magic occurred 24 years ago during an era of college sports made increasingly unrecognizable by the recent prevalence of name, image and likeness deals and nomadic existences achieved through the NCAA transfer portal.
Trevor Huffman of Kent State is lifted by fans after KSU defeated Bowling Green in the MAC championship game at Gund Arena in Cleveland on March 9, 2002.
Two massive changes opened the floodgates in 2021: The ability for student-athletes to earn NIL money went into effect, and the NCAA adopted a rule giving underclassmen immediate eligibility to play after a first transfer.
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The allowance of unlimited transfers by athletes without the penalty of sitting out a year materialized in 2024. And universities were permitted to directly give revenue sharing payments to athletes beginning in 2025.
The seismic shifts in the past five years have given rise to countless questions, including this timely one:
Could a MAC team match Kent State's Elite Eight legacy in college basketball's modern-day landscape?
The topic is relevant with the MAC Tournament scheduled to be held on the men's side March 12-14 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Kent State's Antonio Gates, center, grabs a rebound against Alabama's Erwin Dudley during the second half of their game in the secound round of the NCAA Tournament at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, South Carolina, on March 16, 2002. Kent's John Edwards is on the left.
There is substantial intrigue surrounding the Miami RedHawks (31-0, 18-0), defending MAC Tournament champion Akron Zips (26-5, 17-1) and Kent State Golden Flashes (23-8, 14-4) entering the conference tourney as the top three seeds, respectively.
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The winner of the three-day tournament will receive the MAC's automatic bid to March Madness — and Akron is seeking a three-peat.
If Miami were to fall short of the conference tourney crown, would the RedHawks receive an at-large bid? The outcome would become a national story. The MAC hasn't sent multiple teams to the same NCAA Tournament since 1999, when Kent State and Miami represented the conference in the big dance.
Kent State coach Stan Heath, center, with assistant Jim Christian, left, standing next to him, argues against a call during KSU's game against Pitt at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 21, 2002.
Heath and Jim Christian, a former Kent State assistant coach who succeeded Heath as head coach after the 2001-02 season, discussed whether a MAC team could reach the Elite Eight nowadays.
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"I would never say never, but I just think the percentages of that happening [are low]," said Heath, who reached a mutual agreement March 8 to part ways at Eastern Michigan after finishing his fifth season at the Eagles helm. "Think about this: [In 2025], there were no Cinderella stories in the Sweet 16. Every single year there's been some team out of nowhere. You're like, 'Who is this team?'
"Now I think it's going to be a rarity. Maybe it happens once every five years that a team gets to the Sweet 16. We're talking about Sweet 16. I'm not talking about Elite Eight or Final Four. I'm talking about Sweet 16. I think those are going to be more of the stories than getting to the Elite Eight because there's such a gap in this revenue sharing, [and major conference] teams are able to put together these [elite] rosters."
The head coach at Canisius University, Christian pointed out Kent State was a No. 10 seed in the South Region on the 2002 NCAA Tournament bracket. KSU beat No. 7 Oklahoma State 69-61 in the first round before stunning No. 2 Alabama 71-58 in the second round and upsetting No. 3 Pittsburgh 78-73 in overtime in the Sweet 16. Kent State then lost 81-69 to No. 5 Indiana in the Elite Eight. Indiana went on to finish as the national runner-up, losing 64-52 to top-seeded Maryland in the championship game.
Delores Christian of Spring Hill, Florida, congratulates her son Jim Christian after his introductory news conference as Kent State men's basketball coach on April 2, 2002. KSU's previous coach, Stan Heath, took a head coaching job at Arkansas after an Elite Eight run.
Since then, MAC teams have had the following seeds in the NCAA tourney:
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No. 6: Buffalo (2019)
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No. 8: Kent State (2008)
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No. 11: Central Michigan (2003), Western Michigan (2004)
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No. 12: Kent State (2006), Akron (2013), Buffalo (2015)
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No. 13: Ohio (2005), Akron (2009), Ohio (2012), Buffalo (2018), Ohio (2021), Akron (2022), Kent State (2023), Akron (2025)
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No. 14: Miami (2007), Ohio (2010), Western Michigan (2014), Buffalo (2016), Kent State (2017), Akron (2024)
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No. 15: Akron (2011)
Of those 22 MAC tourney champions since 2002 (the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced one year to be skipped), Ohio has produced the deepest NCAA Tournament run, advancing to the Sweet 16 as a No. 13 seed in 2012 under coach John Groce, who's now in his ninth season in charge of the Akron Zips.
"For a mid-major team to get to a 10 seed or higher in this day and age is a lot more difficult because of the barometers with which [the people on the selection committee] judge the seedings, right?" Christian said. "This new basketball NET ranking where they judge almost every possession, it's a little bit biased toward high-major teams, in my opinion. So, I think it's not impossible, but to get the seeding you need, it's going to be really hard.
"Akron [went] 17-1 [in 2024-25 in conference play], one of the best records in the history of the league. Our [Kent State] team was 17-1 [in the MAC in 2001-02]. We went to the tournament that year as a 10 seed. They went as a 13 seed. So to get to the Elite Eight from a 13 seed, it's not impossible, and it definitely could happen. It's just a lot more difficult because of who you have to play."
Kent State basketball coach Jim Christian, left, shares a laugh with seniors Andrew Mitchell, center, and Demetric Shaw, right, during a ceremony at Kent Roosevelt High School on April 13, 2002.
A year ago, No. 13 Akron lost 93-65 to No. 4 Arizona in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
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But succeeding amid a tougher nonconference schedule would boost a MAC team's seeding in March Madness, right?
"It's hard for [the top MAC teams] to schedule because those [major conference] teams want to play tier-one teams, which because of the overall schedule, it's hard for a MAC team to become that," Christian said. "Playing Akron [in the regular season], you might lose, and it could knock you out of [contention for an NCAA] Tournament [berth]. I would imagine scheduling for Akron is brutal."
College basketball column: Akron vs. Miami rematch would be a dream MAC championship | Opinion
Akron Zips coach John Groce, facing, hugs his brother, Miami RedHawks coach Travis Steele, before the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game March 15, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
The proverbial microscope has been focused on Miami's unimpressive strength of schedule this season. Miami coach Travis Steele, Groce's younger brother, has repeatedly stated the RedHawks had trouble with scheduling nonconference games for 2025-26. Miami has not played any Quadrant 1 games, which are matchups classified as top tier by the NET rankings.
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"Scheduling is really, really difficult for mid-majors that have a profile like us," Steele said on ESPN's College GameDay. "We won 25 games last year, set a single-season record in Miami's history for wins and made scheduling very difficult this year.
"My first couple years [at Miami], there was a line from Oxford, Ohio, all the way down to Cincinnati, Ohio, to play us. And then this year, that line got much, much shorter."
Kent State basketball: Coach Rob Senderoff reveals why he stayed at KSU despite Fordham's pitch in 2025
Kent State's Trevor Huffman drives against Indiana's Jarrad Odle in the first half of an NCAA Tournament game on March 23, 2002, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
There is also a glaring challenge mid-major programs face with roster continuity. One example is Akron's best player from last season's team, Nate Johnson, transferring to Kansas State in April 2025. The 2024-25 MAC Player of the Year, MAC Defensive Player of the Year and MAC Tournament MVP, Johnson had announced he would return to Akron before the pull of life-changing NIL money became too enticing to forgo.
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"Alabama had really good seasons the last couple years," Heath said. "Well, you know who their point guard was? Mark Sears. You know where Mark Sears was playing [when his college career began]? Ohio U. So, does Trevor Huffman stay at Kent State after his second year when everybody realizes he's a really good player? I don't know."
In the 2000-01 season, Kent State went to the NCAA Tournament and won a first-round game, prevailing 77-73 as a No. 13 seed over No. 4 Indiana. Trevor Huffman, Andrew Mitchell and Demetric Shaw were key players under coach Gary Waters, and the trio returned the next season when Heath took control.
Kent State coach Stan Heath yells during the first half of KSU's game against Indiana on March 23, 2002, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
The coaching change and the arrival of future Pro Football Hall of Famer Antonio Gates as a junior college transfer led to a transition period for KSU, yet the central characters ultimately meshed and marched all the way to the Elite Eight.
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"Trevor Huffman was a terrific player, but I thought the key guy that kind of glued everything together was Andrew Mitchell," Heath said. "He was the guy that kind of brought everybody together. He brought in Antonio as a friend. They kind of knew each other from Detroit, but [Mitchell] was also close with Trevor."
Christian called the guard combination of Huffman and Mitchell "clearly one of the best backcourts in the history of the MAC."
From 1998-2002, Huffman and Mitchell played all 131 games of their college careers together at KSU. Given the state of college sports, Christian said, "You're never going to see guys play together for four years."
And you might never see another MAC team appear in the Elite Eight. If you do, an unprecedented number of obstacles would have been cleared.
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Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com . On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: MAC matching Kent State basketball's Elite Eight hard with NIL, portal
