For University of Massachusetts men’s basketball coach Frank Martin, his staff and players, Saturday, Dec. 20 can’t come soon enough.

That’s the day the Minutemen will begin play in the Mid-American Conference. The conference released its matchups and schedules Thursday morning.

UMass will open its inaugural MAC season on Dec. 20 when the Minutemen host Kent State.

“The top of the leagues, the top of the MAC is very compatible with, take your pick” in the Atlantic 10, Martin said earlier this summer. “I was at the University of Cincinnati. Dayton has been Dayton since I’ve been at the University of Cincinnati. Miami of Ohio and Dayton have played wars, wars, for 25 years that I can remember. Dayton’s been at the top of the A-10 for a long time and Miami of Ohio has been at the top of the MAC for a long time.

“The top of the league is very compatible with what the A-10 is all about.”

UMass will only face the Golden Flashes one time this year, in that Dec. 20 home game. The Minutemen will play 18 conference games, nine of them are at home.

Much like its time in the Atlantic 10, UMass won’t play home and home with everyone in the conference. UMass will match up at home only against Kent State, Toledo and Central Michigan. Martin will take his squad to Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Akron, without return trips.

Mid-American Conference men’s hoop games are played without fail Tuesdays and Saturdays. The Minutemen will play four Tuesday games and five more on Saturdays.

The times for the games, both conference and non-conference, have not yet been set. Television broadcast partners for the entire schedule are also to be determined.

The Mid-American Conference basketball tournaments, as the men and women both play at the same site, will be held March 11-14 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. That’s the home of the NBA’s Cavaliers.

Last year, Akron won the Mid-American Conference title, with the Zips making it two straight crowns after beating Miami (Ohio) 76-75. The Zips lost to Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Division I tournament.

While Miami did not play postseason basketball, Kent State did. The Golden Flashes beat St. Bonaventure and Stanford in the NIT, before losing to Loyola Chicago in that tournament’s quarterfinal round.

“There’s a misconception out there that because we were in the A-10, we’re just going to show up in the MAC and roll through that thing,” Martin said. “That’s somebody that has no idea how good Toledo, Akron, Kent, Miami of Ohio have been, Ohio University and schools like that have been for the last X number of years. They’ve got really good coaches, really good guards. The league … might not be as big, just like the A-10 is not as big as the SEC. In the A-10, you have one really good big guy and the SEC, everyone had three really good big guys. The best guard in the MAC [RayJ Dennis of Toledo] ended up being Baylor’s best guard and plays in the NBA now.

“I think the top of the league is really, really good and really talented.”

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UMASS MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE(Times, television partners TBD)November3 — Marshall; 8 — UAlbany; 13 — Le Moyne; 16 — Central Connecticut State; 21 — College of Charleston, Paradise Jam (other games Nov. 21-24).December3 — Harvard; 6 — UMass Lowell; 10 — Boston College, Hall of Fame Classic, Springfield; 13 — Florida State, at Orange Bowl Tournament; 20 — Kent State; 22 — UMass Boston; 30 — at Eastern Michigan.January3 — Bowling Green; 6 — at Ohio; 10 — Ball State; 13 — at Western Michigan; 17 — at Northern Illinois; 20 — Toledo; 24 — at Buffalo; 27 — Miami (Ohio); 31 — Eastern Michigan.February3 — Central Michigan; 7 — MAC/Sun Belt Challenge, opponent TBD; 14 — at Akron; 17 — Miami (Ohio); 21 — Buffalo; 24 — at Ball State; 28 — at Bowling Green.March3 — Ohio.