All 9 Horizon League Teams Involved in ESPN's BracketBusters

BRISTOL, Conn. – All nine Horizon League teams will be featured during the 11^th annual BracketBusters, a two-day men’s college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Championship hopefuls against each other Feb. 22-23, will feature 13 nationally televised games – across ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. The NCAA hopefuls will be selected from a pool of 122 teams from 15 conferences.

One of the founding conferences of the BracketBusters, the Horizon League went 7-3 in the event in 2012. Eventual Horizon League champion Detroit knocked off James Madison, 82-70, at Calihan Hall, while Valparaiso and Cleveland State were featured in nationally televised games.

Horizon League teams hosting home games this year include Loyola, UIC, Valparaiso, Wright State and Youngstown State. Cleveland State, Detroit, Green Bay and Milwaukee will all be on the road.

ESPN2 will feature five BracketBusters games, while ESPNU and ESPN3 will each house four games. The 13 BracketBusters matchups will be announced Monday, Jan. 28 with dates, times and networks. The televised matchups are selected by ESPN, while a Committee of Conference Commissioners determines the additional non-televised games.

BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Championship play, will provide the 26 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks before Selection Sunday. The 96 teams not selected for BracketBusters will compete against each other through the same three days.

The 122-team field will feature teams from 13 conferences: 12 each from Big South, Mid-American Conference and Ohio Valley Conference; 11 from the Big Sky; 10 each from Big West, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley and Southland Conference; nine each from Horizon and Summit Leagues; six from the Western Athletic Association; four from the Southern Conference; three from the MEAC; and two each from the America East and West Coast Conferences.

As part of the agreement, all 13 of the BracketBusters home teams in televised games, as well as the remaining 58 home squads, will play a return game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the 2013-14 season.

BracketBusters is part of ESPN’s college basketball franchise programming, along withFeast Week presented by Lowe’s, Holiday Hoops Presented by Kay Jewelers, Rivalry Week, Bracket Builder Week andChampionship Week Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

Teams participating this season in BracketBusters have produced 101 appearances in the last seven NCAA Championships.

BracketBustersHome and Away Teams

(Matchups announced Jan. 28)

Home Team	Visiting Team
America East
Vermont	Albany
Big Sky
Eastern Washington	Montana
Idaho State	Northern Arizona
Montana State	North Dakota
Portland State	Northern Colorado
Southern Utah	Sacramento State
	Weber State
Big South
Campbell	Charleston Southern
High Point	Coastal Carolina
Liberty	Gardner-Webb
UNC Asheville	Longwood
Presbyterian	Radford
Winthrop	Virginia Military Institute
Big West
UC Davis	UC Irvine
UC Santa Barbara	UC Riverside
Cal State Fullerton	Cal State Fullerton
Hawaii	Cal State Northridge
Long Beach State	Pacific
Horizon
UIC	Cleveland State
Loyola (Ill.)	Detroit
Valparaiso	Green Bay
Wright State	Milwaukee
Youngstown State
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Fairfield	Canisius
Marist	Iona
Niagara	Loyola (Md.)
Rider	Manhattan
Siena	Saint Peter’s
Mid-American
Akron	Ball State
Buffalo	Bowling Green
Eastern Michigan	Central Michigan
Northern Illinois	Kent State
Toledo	Miami (Ohio)
Western Michigan	Ohio
MEAC
Hampton	Morgan State
	Savannah State
Missouri Valley
Drake	Bradley
Indiana State	Creighton
Northern Iowa	Evansville
Southern Illinois	Illinois State
Wichita State	Missouri State
Ohio Valley
Belmont	Austin Peay
Murray State	Eastern Illinois
SE Missouri State	Eastern Kentucky
Tennessee-Martin	Jacksonville State
Tennessee State	Morehead State
Tennessee Tech	SIU Edwardsville
Southern
College of Charleston	Citadel
Davidson
Western Carolina
Southland
Central Arkansas	McNeese State
Lamar	Nicholls State
Oral Roberts	Northwestern State
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Sam Houston State
	Southeastern Louisiana
	Stephen F. Austin
Summit League
IPFW	UMKC
IUPUI	North Dakota State
Nebraska Omaha	North Dakota State
Oakland	South Dakota State
Western Kentucky
WAC
Utah State	Texas State
UTSA	Denver
UTA	Idaho
West Coast Conference
St. Mary’s (Calif.)	Loyola Marymount

BracketBusters in NCAA Championship play from 2006-12:
2012 NCAA Championship: 12 berths – Creighton, Davidson, VCU, Iona, Long Beach State, Murray State, New Mexico State, Ohio, Saint Mary’s, South Dakota State, UNC-Asheville, Wichita State. 5 wins: VCU defeated Wichita State; Murray State defeated Colorado State; Creighton defeated Alabama; Ohio advanced to the Sweet Sixteen by defeating Michigan and USF.

2011 NCAA Championship: 13 berths – Akron, Boston University, George Mason, Indiana State, Morehead State, Northern Colorado, Old Dominion, Saint Peter’s, UC-Santa Barbara, UNC Ashville, Utah State, VCU, and Wofford. Eight wins: George Mason defeated Villanova; Morehead State defeated Louisville; UNC Ashville defeated Arkansas-Little Rock; VCU advanced to the Final Four defeating USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas.

2010 NCAA Championship: 12 berths – Butler, Morgan State, Murray State, New Mexico State, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Old Dominion, Siena, Utah State, UC-Santa Barbara, Vermont, Winthrop. 10 wins overall: Butler advanced to the National Title game defeating UTEP, Murray State, Syracuse, Kansas State, Michigan State; Murray State defeated Vanderbilt; Northern Iowa defeated UNLV and Kansas; Ohio defeated Georgetown; and Old Dominion defeated Notre Dame.

2009 NCAA Championship: 13 berths – Akron, Binghamton, 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 Championship: 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 Championship: 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 Championship: 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.

About BracketBusters
The BracketBusters concept, named because of the success of participating teams from these conferences in NCAA Championship play through the years, provides programs with an opportunity to play top non-conference opponents roughly three weeks before Selection Sunday. Each conference selects its participating teams before the season, and the matchups for the event are determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences. BracketBusters is an example of ESPN college basketball franchise programming. Others include Rivalry Week, Feast Week Presented by Lowe’s, Holiday Hoops Presented by Kay Jewelers, Bracket Builder Week and Championship Week Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

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