All nine Horizon League teams placed into ESPN's BracketBusters pool

Aug. 22, 2006

The fifth annual BracketBusters event, a two-day men's college basketball extravaganza pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other on February 16-17, will feature 13 nationally televised games selected from an expanded pool of 102 teams. The field is highlighted by the return of last year's BracketBusters participants George Mason and Wichita State, a Final Four and Sweet Sixteen team, respectively, who met in last year's event and the NCAA Tournament. Last year's field included a potential 100 teams (vying for 13 BracketBusters games), while the 2005 event featured 64 teams (vying for 11 BracketBusters games).

For the second consecutive year, the event will feature five BracketBusters games exclusively on ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, and two on ESPN360, ESPN's customized broadband service. ESPN2 will televise six contests. The 13 BracketBusters matchups will be announced January 29, while game time and network assignments will be announced February 5.

BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play over the past few years, 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 Conference and Colonial Athletic; 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference; 10 from the Missouri Valley and Metro Atlantic Athletic; nine from the Western Athletic Conference and Horizon League; eight from the Big West; four the Big Sky and Southern; three from the Big South and Patriot; two from the America East, Mid-Continent and Southland; and San Francisco from the West Coast Conference.

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, Feast Week, Holiday Hoops, Judgment Week and Championship Week.

This year's BracketBusters pool features teams with 70 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments, including a team in the Final Four - George Mason (2006); Elite Eight - Kent State (2002); and six Sweet Sixteen squads - Bradley (2006), Wichita State (2006), UW-Milwaukee (2005), Nevada (2004), Butler (2003) and Southern Illinois (2002).

Match-ups and nationally televised games will be determined January 29, 2007.

Horizon League home teams: Butler, UIC, Loyola, Wright State, Youngstown State.
Horizon League visiting teams: Cleveland State, Detroit, UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee.

Other teams:
Mid-American Conference (12 teams)
Home: Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan. Road: Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio.

Colonial Athletic (12)
Home: Delaware, George Mason, Georgia State, Hofstra, Northeastern, Virginia Commonwealth. Road: Drexel, James Madison, UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, Towson, William & Mary.

Ohio Valley Conference (11)
Home: Morehead State, Samford, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech. Road: Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Murray State.

Missouri Valley Conference (10)
Home: Creighton, Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Wichita State. Road: Bradley, Evansville, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois.

Metro Atlantic Athletic (10)
Home: Fairfield, Marist, Niagara, Rider, Siena. Road: Canisius, Iona, Loyola (Maryland), Manhattan, Saint Peter's.

Western Athletic (9)
Home: Boise State, Fresno State, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State. Road: Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, Utah State.

Big West (8)
Home: Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Cal State-Northridge, UC Santa Barbara. Road: UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Cal State-Fullerton, Pacific.

Big Sky (4)
Home: Montana, Northern Arizona. Road: Eastern Washington, Portland State.

Southern (4)
Home: UNC Greensboro, Tennessee-Chattanooga. Road: Appalachian State, Elon.

Big South (3)
Home: Coastal Caronlina. Road: Liberty, Winthrop.

Patriot League (3)
Home: Bucknell. Road: Colgate, Holy Cross.

America East (2)
Road: Albany, Maine.

Mid-Continent (2)
Home: Oral Roberts. Road:) Valparaiso.

Southland (2)
Road: Northwestern State, Sam Houston State.

West Coast (1)
Home: San Francisco.

Below are statistics of this year's BracketBusters pool of 102 teams in NCAA Tournament play from 2002 - 2006:

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.

2003 NCAA Tournament: 11 berths - Austin Peay, Butler, Central Michigan, Creighton, Holy Cross, Manhattan, UNC-Wilmington, Sam Houston State, Southern Illinois, Utah State and UW-Milwaukee. A 3-11 overall record: Butler defeated Mississippi State and Louisville to reach the Sweet Sixteen; and Central Michigan defeated Creighton.

2002 NCAA Tournament: 13 berths - Creighton, Kent State, Hawaii, Holy Cross, Illinois-Chicago, Montana, Murray State, Southern Illinois, UNC-Wilmington, Siena, UC Santa Barbara, Winthrop and Valparaiso. An 8-13 overall record: Kent State defeated Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh to reach the Elite Eight; Creighton defeated Florida; UNC-Wilmington defeated USC; Siena defeated Alcorn State; and Southern Illinois defeated Texas Tech and Georgia to reach the Sweet Sixteen.

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