Central Michigan Chippewas

The Central Michigan Chippewas play their home games at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, representing a program with a long, if understated, MAC pedigree. Central Michigan basketball has historically been at its best under stable, long-tenured coaching staffs that squeezed the most out of MAC regular-season play. The Chippewas' identity is built on defense-first basketball and periodic tournament breakthroughs rather than sustained national attention. It remains a program capable of MAC title runs when its roster and coaching align.

Central Michigan basketball dates to 1906, and the program built its strongest stretch under coach Dick Parfitt, who led the Chippewas to MAC regular-season titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in 1975 and 1977. Charlie Coles later guided the 1986-87 team to a MAC Tournament championship and a No. 13 NCAA seed. Overall, Central Michigan has won eight MAC regular-season titles, most recently in 2003, and made four NCAA Tournament appearances.