All ten Horizon League men's basketball teams placed into O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters pool
Aug. 23, 2007
The sixth annual O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event, a two-day men's college basketball extravaganza pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other on February 22-23, will feature 14 nationally televised games---on ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com, and ESPN Classic---selected from a pool of 100 teams.
The field is highlighted by the return of 2007 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters participants Butler University and Southern Illinois University, both Sweet 16 Teams in last spring's NCAA Championship. All ten Horizon League teams will participate in this year's event, with Butler, Cleveland State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Valparaiso University playing home games while the University of Illinois at Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wright State University and Youngstown State University will play on the road.
This year's coverage will feature the addition of a game on ESPN Classic. For the third 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 14 BracketBusters matchups will be announced February 4, while game time and network assignments will be announced February 11.
The Horizon League produced the nation's best record in the event last year, posting a 7-2 ledger including Wright State's 77-62 victory over Cal State Fullerton which aired on ESPN360. Butler also played in one of the day's featured match-ups, dropping a 68-64 decision to Southern Illinois on ESPN2. In other games involving Horizon League teams, Cleveland State defeated Cal State Northridge, 85-76; Detroit outlasted Buffalo, 92-84 in overtime; Green Bay slipped past Northern Illinois, 82-76, UIC defeated Central Michigan, 84-62; Loyola raced paced Eastern Illinois, 66-43; and Youngstown State edged Eastern Kentucky, 66-61, while Milwaukee fell at Drake, 84-76.
BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play over the past few years, will provide the 28 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks prior to Selection Sunday. The 72 teams not selected for BracketBusters will compete against each other over the same two days. As part of the agreement, all 14 of the BracketBusters home teams, as well as the remaining 36 home squads, will play a "return" game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the following season.
The 100-team field will feature 12 teams from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic Association; 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference; 10 from the Horizon League, Missouri Valley Conference and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference; nine from the Western Athletic Conference and Big West Conference; four the America East Conference and Southern Conference; two from the Patriot League, Big Sky Conference, and Big South Conference; and one each from the West Coast Conference, Summit League and Atlantic Sun Conference.
BracketBusters is an example of ESPN college basketball franchise programming. Others include Rivalry Week Presented by Cisco, Feast Week, Holiday Hoops Presented by Kay Jewelers, Judgment Week Presented by Cisco and Championship Week Presented by Dick's Sporting Goods.
This year's BracketBusters pool features teams with 74 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments, including a team in the Final Four - George Mason University (2006); and seven Sweet 16 squads - Butler (2007 and 2003), Southern Illinois (2007), Bradley University (2006), Wichita State University (2006), Milwaukee (2005), and the University of Nevada (2004).
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Sixth Annual O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters Pool -- Feb. 22-23, 2008
Horizon League home teams: Butler, Cleveland State, Detroit, Green Bay, Valparaiso.Horizon League visiting teams: Loyola, Milwaukee, UIC, Wright State, Youngstown State.
Other teams:
Mid-American Conference (12 teams)Home: Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo.Road: Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Western Michigan.
Colonial Athletic Association (12 teams)Home: Drexel, James Madison, UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, Towson, William & Mary. Road: Delaware, George Mason, Georgia State, Hofstra, Northeastern, Virginia Commonwealth.
Ohio Valley Conference (11 teams)Home: Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksnoville State, Murray State. Road: Morehead State, Samford, Sotheast Missouri State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech.
Missouri Valley Conference (10 teams)Home: Bradley, Illinois State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois. Road: Creighton, Drake, Evansville, Indiana State, Wichita State.
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (10 teams)Home: Canisius, Iona, Loyola (Md.), Manhattan, Saint Peter's. Road: Fairfield, Marist, Niagara, Rider, Siena.
Western Athletic Conference (9 teams)Home: Boise State, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Utah State. Road: Hawai'i, Idaho, Nevada, San Jose State.
Big West Conference (9 teams)Home: Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Pacific. Road: Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara.
America East Conference (4 teams)Road: Albany, Binghamton, Boston University, Vermont.
Southern Conference (4 teams)Home: Appalachian State, Elon. Road: Davidson, Georgia Southern.
Big Sky Conference (2 teams)Home: Northern Arizona. Road: Portland State.
Big South Conference (2 teams)Home: Winthrop. Road: High Point.
Patriot League (2 teams)Home: Holy Cross. Road: Bucknell.
Atlantic Sun Conference (1 team)Home: East Tennessee State.
Summit League (1 team)Home: Oral Roberts.
West Coast Conference (1 team)Home: St. Mary's (Calif.).
Note: Match-ups will be determined February 4, 2008.
Results of this year's BracketBusters pool of 100 teams in NCAA Tournament play from 2003 - 2007:
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 7-19 overall record: Butler defeated Old Dominion and Maryland to reach the Sweet 16; Southern Illinois defeated Holy Cross and Virginia Tech to reach the Sweet 16; 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, Milwaukee, Montana, Murray State, Nevada, UNC-Wilmington, Northern Iowa, Northwestern State, Pacific, Oral Roberts, Utah State, Southern Illinois, Winthrop and Wichita State. A 12-19 overall record: Bradley defeated Kansas and Pittsburgh to reach the Sweet 16; 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; Milwaukee defeated Oklahoma; and Wichita State defeated Seton Hall and Tennessee to reach the Sweet 16.
2005 NCAA Tournament: 15 berths - Bucknell, Chattanooga, Creighton, Eastern Kentucky, Milwaukee, Montana, Nevada, Niagara, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Old Dominion, Pacific, Southern Illinois, Utah State and Winthrop. A 6-15 overall record: Bucknell defeated Kansas; Nevada defeated Texas; Pacific defeated Pittsburgh; Southern Illinois defeated Saint Mary's (California); and Milwaukee defeated Alabama and Boston College to reach the Sweet 16.
2004 NCAA Tournament: 12 berths - Eastern Washington, UIC, 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 16; and Pacific defeated Providence.
2003 NCAA Tournament: 11 berths - Austin Peay, Butler, Central Michigan, Creighton, Holy Cross, Manhattan, Milwaukee, UNC Wilmington, Sam Houston State, Southern Illinois and Utah State. A 3-11 overall record: Butler defeated Mississippi State and Louisville to reach the Sweet 16; and Central Michigan defeated Creighton.
