The Akron men’s basketball team was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference in the league’s preseason coaches poll, announced Tuesday, October 20, and two Zips — seniors Evan Mahaffey and Tahj Staveskie — were named to the Preseason All-MAC team.
Miami was tabbed first in the poll with nine first-place votes and 130 points, followed by Toledo in second with 117 points and two first-place votes. Akron landed third with 110 points, just ahead of Kent State in fourth with 108 points and one first-place vote, setting up what coaches expect to be a crowded race at the top of the conference.
The Zips enter the 2026-27 season after claiming three consecutive Mid-American Conference Tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Even with that run, coaches split their preseason tournament-favorite votes among Miami, Toledo, Massachusetts and Kent State.
Mahaffey, a 6-foot-6 wing from Cincinnati, returns for his fifth season of college basketball after helping Akron capture the 2025-26 MAC title. He was named to the Preseason All-MAC Second Team after a first season with the Zips in which he started all 35 games and earned All-MAC honorable mention and All-MAC Defensive Team honors.
Mahaffey averaged 10.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game last season, and he led Akron with 59 steals and 27 blocked shots. His two-way play gives the Zips a veteran presence on the perimeter as they defend their tournament crown.
Staveskie joins Mahaffey on the preseason All-MAC team, giving Akron two honorees — a sign of the respect the returning core carries around the league despite the third-place projection. The poll and preseason teams were selected by the conference’s head coaches and released by the league office in Cleveland.
Akron will now turn its attention to the start of the regular season, with the MAC race expected to run through a Miami team picked first, a Toledo team picked second, and a Zips program that has made a habit of playing its best basketball in March. For Akron fans, the poll sets the expectations plainly: the Zips are contenders again, but another tournament title would mean getting past the two teams picked ahead of them and a rival sitting right behind them in fourth place.
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