2008 BracketBusters Participants (Home/Away)

Bristol, CT -- The seventh annual ESPNU BracketBusters event, a two-day men’s college basketball extravaganza pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other on February 20-21, will feature 13 nationally televised games – on either ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN360.com -- selected from a pool of 102 teams.

For the fourth 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 13 BracketBusters matchups will be announced February 2, while game time and network assignments will be announced February 9.

The 102-team field is highlighted by the return of last season’s BracketBusters participant Davidson, who made it to the Elite Eight in last year’s NCAA Tournament and will feature 12 teams from the Mid-American and Colonial Athletic; 10 from the Ohio Valley, Missouri Valley, Horizon League and Metro Atlantic Athletic; nine from the Western Athletic and Big West; four from the America East and Southern; three from the Big South; two from the Big Sky, Summit League and West Coast; and one from the Mid-Eastern Athletic, Northeast and Patriot.

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.

This year’s BracketBusters pool features teams with 77 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments, including a team in the Final Four - George Mason (2006); one in the Elite Eight – Davidson (2008); and six Sweet Sixteen squads – Butler (2007), Southern Illinois (2007), Bradley (2006), Wichita State (2006), UW-Milwaukee (2005) and Nevada (2004).

2009 BracketBusters Participation Pool

Conference              # teams      Home teams             Road teams
America East            4 (2-2)      Vermont                UMBC
Boston University      U of Hartford

Big Sky                 2 (1-1)      Portland State         Montana State

Big South               3 (1-2)      Winthrop               Liberty
Gardner-Webb

Big West                9 (4-5)      Cal Poly               CS-Fullerton
Long Beach State       CS-Northridge
UC-Davis               UC-Irvine
UC-Santa Barbara       UC-Riverside
Pacific

Colonial                12 (6-6)     Drexel                 Delaware
James Madison          George Mason
UNC-Wilmington         Georgia State
Old Dominion           Hofstra
Towson                 Northeastern
William & Mary         VCU

Horizon                 10 (6-4)     Loyola                 Butler
UIC                    Cleveland State
Valparaiso             Detroit
Wright State           Green Bay
Youngstown State
Milwaukee

Metro Atlantic          10 (5-5)     Fairfield              Canisius
Marist                 Iona
Niagara                Loyola
Rider                  Manhattan
Siena                  Saint Peter’s


Mid-American            12 (6-6)     Ball State             Akron
Central Michigan       Buffalo
Eastern Michigan       Ohio
Western Michigan       Miami (OH)
Bowling Green          Northern Illinois
Kent State             Toledo

MEAC                    1 (0-1)                             Morgan State

Missouri Valley         10 (5-5)     Creighton              Bradley
Drake                  Illinois State
Evansville             Missouri State
Indiana State          Northern Iowa
Wichita State          Southern Illinois

Northeast               1 (0-1)                             Fairleigh Dickinson

OVC                     10 (5-5)     Murray State           Morehead State
Eastern Kentucky       Tennessee Tech
Southeast Missouri     Austin Peay
Tennessee State        Eastern Illinois
UT-Martin              Jacksonville State

Patriot                 1 (1-0)      Bucknell

Southern                4 (2-2)      Davidson               Appalachian State
Georgia Southern       Elon


Summit League           2 (0-2)                             North Dakota State
South Dakota State

West Coast              2 (2-0)      San Diego
St. Mary’s

WAC                     9 (5-4)      Hawaii                 Boise State
Idaho                  Fresno
Nevada                 LA Tech
New Mexico State       Utah State
San Jose State

51 teams               51 teams