The 2004 , a part of the 2003-04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place from March 8–13 at Gund Arena in Cleveland. Its winner received the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA tournament. It was a single-elimination tournament with four rounds, and the three highest seeds received byes in the first round. All MAC teams were invited to participate. Western Michigan, the MAC regular season winner, received the number one seed in the tournament. Western Michigan defeated Kent State in the final. In the NCAA they lost in the first round to Vanderbilt.