Bowling Green State University Athletics
ESPN's BracketBusters to Feature 102 Teams Eligible for One of 13 Telecasts on Feb. 20-21
September 05, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 5, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (release courtesy ESPN) - The seventh annual ESPNU BracketBusters event, a two-day men's college basketball extravaganza pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other on February 20-21, will feature 13 nationally televised games - on either ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN360.com -- selected from a pool of 102 teams. The field is highlighted by the return of last season's BracketBusters participant Davidson, who made it to the Elite Eight in last year's NCAA Tournament.
Bowling Green will play a home game in this year's BracketBusters event.
For the fourth straight year, ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will televise five BracketBusters games while ESPN360.com, ESPN's customized broadband service, will offer two. ESPN2 will televise six contests. ESPN360.com will also simulcast ESPN2's six telecasts. The 13 BracketBusters matchups will be announced February 2, while game time and network assignments will be announced February 9.
BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play, will provide the 26 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks prior to Selection Sunday. The 76 teams not selected for BracketBusters will compete against each other over the same two days.
The 102-team field will feature 12 teams from the Mid-American and Colonial Athletic; 10 from the Ohio Valley, Missouri Valley, Horizon League and Metro Atlantic Athletic; nine from the Western Athletic and Big West; four from the America East and Southern; three from the Big South; two from the Big Sky, Summit League and West Coast; and one from the Mid-Eastern Athletic, Northeast and Patriot.
As part of the agreement, all 13 of the BracketBusters home teams, as well as the remaining 38 home squads, will play a "return" game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the following season.
BracketBusters is an example of ESPN college basketball franchise programming. Others include Rivalry Week Presented by Cisco, Feast Week, Holiday Hoops, Student Spirit Week, Judgment Week and Championship Week Presented by Dick's Sporting Goods.
This year's BracketBusters pool features teams with 77 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments, including a team in the Final Four - George Mason (2006); one in the Elite Eight - Davidson (2008); and six Sweet Sixteen squads - Butler (2007), Southern Illinois (2007), Bradley (2006), Wichita State (2006), UW-Milwaukee (2005) and Nevada (2004).
- HOME AND AWAY TEAMS FOLLOW -
Note: Matchups will be determined February 2, 2009
Home Teams Visiting Teams America East America East Vermont UMBC Boston University Hartford
Big Sky Big Sky Portland State Montana State
Big South Big South
Winthrop Liberty
Gardner-Webb
Big West
Cal Poly Big West
Long Beach State Cal State-Fullerton
UC-Davis Cal State-Northridge
UC-Santa Barbara Cal-Irvine
Cal-Riverside
Colonial Pacific
Drexel
James Madison Colonial
UNC-Wilmington Delaware
Old Dominion George Mason
Towson Georgia State
William & Mary Hofstra
Northeastern
Horizon Virginia Commonwealth
Loyola
Illinois-Chicago Horizon
Valparaiso Butler
Wright State Cleveland State
Youngstown State Detroit
Milwaukee Green Bay
Metro Atlantic Metro Atlantic Fairfield Canisius Marist Iona Niagara Loyola Rider Manhattan Siena Saint Peter's
Mid-American Mid-American Ball State Akron Central Michigan Buffalo Eastern Michigan Ohio Western Michigan Miami (Ohio) Bowling Green Northern Illinois Kent State Toledo
Missouri Valley Mid-Eastern Athletic
Creighton Morgan State
Drake
Evansville Missouri Valley
Indiana State Bradley
Wichita State Illinois State
Missouri State
Ohio Valley Northern Iowa
Murray State Southern Illinois
Eastern Kentucky
Southeast Missouri Northeast
Tennessee State Fairleigh Dickinson
Tennessee-Martin
Ohio Valley
Patriot Morehead State
Bucknell Tennessee Tech
Austin Peay
Southern Eastern Illinois
Davidson Jacksonville State
Georgia Southern
Southern
West Coast Appalachian State
San Diego Elon
St. Mary's
Summit League
WAC North Dakota State
Hawaii South Dakota State
Idaho
Nevada WAC
New Mexico State Boise State
San Jose State Fresno State
Louisiana Tech
Utah State
Below are statistics of this year's BracketBusters pool of 102 teams in NCAA Tournament play from 2004 - 2008:
2008 NCAA Tournament: 14 Berths - Austin Peay, Boise State, Butler, Cal State-Fullerton, Davidson, Drake, George Mason, Kent State, Portland State, St. Mary's, San Diego, Siena, UMBC and Winthrop. A 6-14 overall record: Davidson defeated Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin to reach the Elite Eight; Butler defeated South Alabama; Siena defeated Vanderbilt; and San Diego defeated Connecticut.
2007 NCAA Tournament: 17 Berths - Albany, Butler, Creighton, Davidson, Eastern Kentucky, Holy Cross, Long Beach State, Miami (Ohio), Nevada, New Mexico State, Niagara, Old Dominion, Oral Roberts, Southern Illinois, Virginia Commonwealth, Winthrop and Wright State. A 7-17 overall record: Butler defeated Old Dominion and Maryland to reach the Sweet Sixteen; Southern Illinois defeated Holy Cross and Virginia Tech to reach the Sweet Sixteen; Nevada defeated Creighton; Virginia Commonwealth defeated Duke; and Winthrop defeated Notre Dame.
2006 NCAA Tournament: 19 Berths - Albany, Bradley, Bucknell, George Mason, Iona, Kent State, Montana, Murray State, Nevada, UNC-Wilmington, Northern Iowa, Northwestern State, Pacific, Oral Roberts, Utah State, Southern Illinois, UW-Milwaukee, Winthrop and Wichita State. A 12-19 overall record: Bradley defeated Kansas and Pittsburgh to reach the Sweet Sixteen; Bucknell defeated Arkansas; George Mason defeated Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and Connecticut to reach the Final Four; Montana defeated Nevada; Northwestern State defeated Iowa; UW-Milwaukee defeated Oklahoma; and Wichita State defeated Seton Hall and Tennessee to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
2005 NCAA Tournament: 15 berths - Bucknell, Chattanooga, Creighton, Eastern Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, Niagara, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Old Dominion, Pacific, Southern Illinois, Utah State, UW-Milwaukee and Winthrop. A 6-15 overall record: Bucknell defeated Kansas; Nevada defeated Texas; Pacific defeated Pittsburgh; Southern Illinois defeated Saint Mary's (California); and UW-Milwaukee defeated Alabama and Boston College to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
2004 NCAA Tournament: 12 berths - Eastern Washington, Illinois-Chicago, Liberty, Manhattan, Murray State, Nevada, Northern Iowa, Pacific, Southern Illinois, Valparaiso, Virginia Commonwealth and Western Michigan. A 4-12 overall record: Manhattan defeated Florida, Nevada defeated Michigan State and Gonzaga to reach the Sweet Sixteen; and Pacific defeated Providence.
