100 Bracket Buster Saturday Teams Set
The fourth annual Bracket Buster Saturday
event, a one-day men’s college basketball extravaganza pitting potential
NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other on February 18, will feature 11
nationally televised games selected from an expanded pool of 100 teams
representing 18 conferences. Last year’s field included a potential 64 teams
representing 13 conferences (vying for 11 Bracket Buster Saturday games)
while the 2004 event featured 46 teams (for 10 Bracket Buster Saturday
games) and the inaugural event in 2003 included 18 teams (for nine
Bracket Buster Saturday games).
In addition to the expanded field, this year’s event
will also feature five Bracket Buster Saturday games exclusively on
ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to
televise the remaining six contests.
Bracket Buster Saturday,
named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play over the
past few years, will provide the 22 televised teams (selected from the pool
of 100 schools) an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents
three weeks prior to Selection Sunday. The 78 teams not selected for
Bracket Buster Saturday will compete against each other on the same day.
The 100-team field will feature 12 teams from the
Mid-American Conference; 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 and Colonial
Athletic; four from the Sun Belt and the Big Sky; three from the Big South;
two from the America East, Mid-Continent, Southern, Southland and West
Coast; and Bucknell from the Patriot League and Fairleigh Dickinson from the
Northeast. Four new conferences join the pool this year: Big South,
Northeast, Patriot and Southland. The West Coast conference returns after a
one-year absence.
While each conference selects their participating
teams prior to the season, the 11 matchups for Bracket Buster Saturday
will be determined from the pool of 100 teams by ESPN in conjunction with
the conferences approximately three weeks prior to the event (this year –
January 29 2006). As part of the agreement, all 11 of the Bracket Buster
Saturday home teams, as well as the remaining 39 home squads, will play
a “return” game at the home facility of their opponent in November or
December of the following season.
Bracket Buster Saturday
is an example of ESPN college basketball franchise programming. Others
include Rivalry Week, Feast Week, Judgment Week and
Championship Week.
This year’s Bracket Buster Saturday pool
features teams with 31 appearances in the last two NCAA Tournaments,
including two Sweet Sixteen squads – UW-Milwaukee (2005) and Nevada (2004).
- HOME AND AWAY TEAMS FOLLOW -
Note:
Match-ups and nationally televised games will be determined January 29, 2006
HOME TEAMS
Mid-American
Ball State
Bowling Green
State
Central
Michigan
Kent State
Miami (Ohio)
Ohio
Western
Michigan
Ohio Valley
Austin Peay
Eastern
Illinois
Eastern
Kentucky
Jacksonville
State
Murray State
Missouri
Valley
Bradley
Creighton
Evansville
Northern Iowa
Southern
Illinois
Wichita State
Metro
Atlantic Athletic
Canisius
Iona
Loyola
(Maryland)
Manhattan
Saint Peter’s
Horizon
Cleveland
State
Detroit
Loyola
(Illinois)
Wisconsin-Green Bay
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Western Athletic
Boise State
Hawaii
Nevada
San Jose State
Utah State
Big
West
UC Irvine
Pacific
UC Riverside
Cal-State
Fullerton
Colonial Athletic
Drexel
Hofstra
Northeastern
Old Dominion
Virginia
Commonwealth
Big Sky
Montana
Montana State
Sun Belt
Louisiana-Lafayette
Western
Kentucky
VISITING TEAMS
Mid-American
Akron
Buffalo
Eastern
Michigan
Northern
Illinois
Toledo
Ohio Valley
Morehead State
Samford
Southeast
Missouri State
Tennessee-Martin
Tennessee
State
Tennessee Tech
Missouri
Valley
Drake
Illinois State
Indiana State
Missouri State
Metro
Atlantic Athletic
Fairfield
Marist
Niagara
Rider
Siena
Horizon
Butler
Illinois-Chicago
Wright State
Youngstown
State
Western
Athletic
Fresno State
Idaho
Louisiana Tech
New Mexico
State
Big
West
Cal
State-Northridge
Cal Poly
Long Beach
State
UC Santa
Barbara
Colonial Athletic
Delaware
George Mason
Georgia State
Big Sky
Northern
Arizona
Eastern
Washington
Sun Belt
Arkansas State
New Orleans
Big South
High Point
UNC Asheville
America
East
Albany
Vermont
HOME TEAMS
Big South
Winthrop
Mid-Continent
Valparaiso
Southern
College of
Charleston
West Coast
Saint Mary’s
VISITING
TEAMS
Mid-Continent
Oral Roberts
Southern
UNC Greensboro
Southland
Stephen F.
Austin
Northwestern
State
West Coast
Santa Clara
Northeast
Fairleigh
Dickinson
Patriot
Bucknell
