BRISTOL, Conn. – All nine Horizon League teams will be featured during the 11th 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 |
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