With only four games remaining, men’s basketball is fighting for the chance to host their first MAC tournament game since 2003.

Every team is fighting for a better position in the standings and looking to earn a higher seed. The top two seeds receive a bye until the semifinals of the tournament while the third and fourth seed receive a bye until the quarterfinals, automatically clinching a spot in Cleveland, where the MAC Tournament is held.

The other eight teams will battle for the right to host a game in the first round of the tournament at their campuses. Seeds five thru eight earn the privilege of hosting a home game while the bottom four seeds have to travel to those campuses.

The Huskies (12-14, 6-8 MAC) are battling to be one of the teams to host a MAC Tournament game in the first round. In their last home MAC tournament, they were knocked out by Buffalo.

“I don’t think we’ve hosted many games in the history on NIU basketball,” said coach Mark Montgomery. “So if it’s the first or the second, it’s a goal of ours. You don’t have to travel; it gives you your fans… and it gets you that much closer to the ultimate goal, which is to get to Cleveland. We’ve played on the road the last two years. I’d like to have a home game … . But I think if you host a home game that means you probably had a pretty good season, too.”

At this point, three teams — NIU, Kent State and Miami (Ohio) — have recorded six conference wins this season, meaning they are tied for the No. 7 seed. With the teams all tied, the tiebreaker is decided by the teams’ head-to-head record.

Kent State and NIU split their two games this season, but Kent State has a better overall record, giving them the No. 7 seed. The Huskies beat the RedHawks in their only matchup this season, making the Huskies the No. 8 seed and the last team to host a home game in the first round of the MAC Tournament with the RedHawks on the outside looking in.

The four games for the Huskies all come against their MAC West Division foes. They will face off against Toledo (23-4, 11-3 MAC) and Western Michigan (18-8, 11-3), which are both tied for the best record in the conference. The Huskies were defeated by both the Rockets and Broncos in their first matchups this season.

The Huskies also have two games remaining against teams they have already beaten this season: Eastern Michigan (15-12, 7-7 MAC) in double overtime and Ball State (4-21, 1-13 MAC) in overtime.

The matchup against Eastern Michigan is huge for the Huskies as the Eagles are one game ahead of them in the conference standings, while the game against Ball State should be a win since they are the worst team in the confernce this season.

If the Huskies are able to find success in these four games and close their season out strong, they should find themselves moving up in the conference standings, giving them a strong chance to host a home game in the first round of the MAC Tournament.