ESPN's BracketBusters to Feature Largest Pool in History

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ESPN's BracketBusters to Feature Largest Pool in History

To tweet this release: http://es.pn/BracketBusters

September 30, 2010

114 Teams Eligible for One of 11 Telecasts Feb. 18-20; Matchups set to be Announced Jan. 31

The ninth annual BracketBusters, a three-day men’s college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other Feb. 18-20, will feature 11 nationally televised games – on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU — selected from a pool of 114 teams, the largest BracketBusters pool in the event’s history.

For the sixth straight year, ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will feature five BracketBusters games, while ESPN or ESPN2 will televise up to six contests. The 11 BracketBusters matchups will be announced Jan. 31.

BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play, will provide the 22 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks before Selection Sunday. The 92 teams not selected for BracketBusters will compete against each other through the same three days.

The 114-team field will feature teams from 15 conferences as well as one independent: 12 from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic; 10 from the Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley and Metro Atlantic Athletic; nine from Big Sky, Big South, Big West and Western Athletic; eight from the Horizon League; five from America East and Southern; two from the MEAC and West Coast; and one from the Summit League, as well as independent Seattle.

As part of the agreement, all 11 of the BracketBusters home teams in televised games, as well as the remaining 46 home squads, will play a “return” game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the 2012-13 season.

BracketBusters is part of ESPN’s college basketball franchise programming, along with Rivalry Week Presented by Cisco, Feast Week presented by Lowe’s, Holiday Hoops Presented by Kay Jewelers, Judgment Week and Championship Week Presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Teams participating this season in BracketBusters have produced 74 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments.

BracketBusters Schedule (subject to change)

Date Time (ET) Network
Fri, Feb 18 7 p.m. ESPN2
  9 p.m. ESPNU
Sat, Feb 19 11 a.m. ESPNU
  1 p.m. ESPNU
  3 p.m. ESPNU
  5 p.m. ESPN2
  5 p.m. ESPNU
  7 p.m. ESPN2
  9 p.m. ESPN2
  11 p.m. ESPN2
Sun, Feb 20 1 p.m. ESPN or ESPN2

Home and Away Teams (Matchups will be announced Jan. 31)

Home Team Visiting Team
America East America East
Stony Brook Maine
Boston University New Hampshire
  Vermont
Big Sky Big Sky
Eastern Washington Montana
Portland State Northern Arizona
Montana State Northern Colorado
Idaho State Sacramento State
  Weber State
Big South Big South
High Point Charleston Southern
Liberty Gardner-Webb
Presbyterian Radford
UNC Asheville VMI
Winthrop  
Big West Big West
Cal Poly CS-Fullerton
Long Beach State CS-Northridge
UC-Davis UC-Irvine
UC-Santa Barbara UC-Riverside
  Pacific
Colonial Colonial
Drexel Delaware
James Madison George Mason
UNC- Wilmington Georgia State
Old Dominion Hofstra
Towson Northeastern
William and Mary VCU
Horizon Horizon
Loyola Chicago Cleveland State
Valparaiso Detroit
Wright State Green Bay
Youngstown State Milwaukee
Metro Atlantic Metro Atlantic
Fairfield Canisius
Marist Iona
Niagara Loyola (Md.)
Rider Manhattan
Siena Saint Peter’s
Mid-American Mid-American
Akron Ball State
Buffalo Bowling Green
Eastern Michigan Central Michigan
Northern Illinois Kent State
Toledo Miami
Western Michigan Ohio
MEAC MEAC
Morgan State Delaware State
Missouri Valley Missouri Valley
Drake Bradley
Indiana State Creighton
Northern Iowa Evansville
Southern Illinois Illinois State
Wichita State Missouri State
Ohio Valley Ohio Valley
Murray State Austin Peay
Southeast Missouri Eastern Illinois
Tennessee-Martin Eastern Kentucky
Tennessee State Jacksonville State
Tennessee Tech Morehead State
Southern Southern
College of Charleston Appalachian State
Western Carolina Davidson
Wofford  
Summit League  
Oral Roberts  
WAC WAC
Fresno State Boise State
Louisiana Tech Hawaii
Nevada Idaho
New Mexico State Utah State
San Jose State  
West Coast West Coast
Saint Mary’s Loyola Marymount
Independent Independent
  Seattle

BracketBusters in NCAA Tournament play from 2006-10:

2010 NCAA Tournament: 11 berths – Morgan State, Murray State, New Mexico State, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Old Dominion, Siena, Utah State, UC-Santa Barbara, Vermont, Winthrop. Five wins overall: Murray State defeated Vanderbilt; Northern Iowa defeated UNLV and Kansas; Ohio defeated Georgetown; and Old Dominion defeated Notre Dame.

2009 NCAA Tournament: 12 berths – Akron, Butler, Cal State Northridge, Cleveland State, Morehead State, Morgan State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Portland State, Siena, Utah State, and Virginia Commonwealth. Three wins overall: Cleveland State defeated Wake Forest; Morehead State defeated Alabama State and Siena beat Ohio State.

2008 NCAA Tournament: 15 Berths – Austin Peay, Boise State, Butler, Cal State-Fullerton, Davidson, Drake, George Mason, Kent State, Oral Roberts, Portland State, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, Siena, UMBC and Winthrop. Six wins overall: 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.  Seven wins overall: 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. Twelve wins overall: 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.

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Media contact: Jenny Zimmerman at 407-566-2213 or [email protected]

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