2008 BracketBusters Field Announcement

The sixth annual O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event, a two day event pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other on February 22-23, will feature 14 nationally televised games ­ on either ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com or ESPN Classic. The 100 team field is highlighted by the return of last season's BracketBusters participants Butler and Southern Illinois, both Sweet Sixteen teams in the NCAA Tournament.

The 100-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, Horizon League and Metro Atlantic Athletic; nine from the Western Athletic Conference and Big West; four from the America East and Southern; two from the Patriot, Big Sky and Big South; one from the West Coast, Summit League and Atlantic Sun.

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.

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 (2006); and seven Sweet Sixteen squads ­ Butler (2007), Southern Illinois (2007), Bradley (2006), Wichita State (2006), UW-Milwaukee (2005), Nevada (2004) and Butler (2003).

- HOME AND AWAY TEAMS FOLLOW -

HOME TEAMS

Mid-American
Akron
Buffalo
Eastern Michigan
Northern Illinois
Ohio
Toledo

Ohio Valley
Austin Peay
Eastern Illinois
Eastern Kentucky
Jacksonville State
Murray State

Missouri Valley
Bradley
Illinois State
Missouri State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois

Metro Atlantic Athletic
Canisius
Iona
Loyola (Maryland)
Manhattan
Saint Peter¹s

Horizon
Butler
Cleveland State
Detroit
Valparaiso
UW-Green Bay

Western Athletic
Boise State
Fresno State
Louisiana Tech
New Mexico State
Utah State

Big West
Cal-State Fullerton
Cal-State Northridge
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
Pacific

Colonial Athletic
Drexel
James Madison
UNC-Wilmington
Old Dominion
Towson
William & Mary

Southern
Elon
Appalachian State

Atlantic Sun
East Tennessee State

Big Sky
Northern Arizona

Big South
Winthrop

Patriot
Holy Cross

Summit League
Oral Roberts

West Coast
Saint Mary's

VISITING TEAMS

Mid-American
Ball State
Bowling Green
Central Michigan
Kent State
Miami (Ohio)
Western Michigan

Ohio Valley
Morehead State
Samford
Southeast Missouri State
Tennessee-Martin
Tennessee State
Tennessee Tech

Missouri Valley
Creighton
Drake
Evansville
Indiana State
Wichita State

Metro Atlantic Athletic
Fairfield
Marist
Niagara
Rider
Siena

Horizon
Illinois-Chicago
Loyola (Illinois)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Wright State
Youngstown State

Western Athletic
Hawaii
Idaho
Nevada
San Jose State

Big West
Cal Poly
Long Beach State
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara

Colonial Athletic
Delaware
George Mason
Georgia State
Hofstra
Northeastern
Virginia Commonwealth

America East
Albany
Binghamton
Boston University
Vermont

Southern
Davidson
Georgia Southern

Big Sky
Portland State

Big South
High Point

Patriot
Bucknell

Note: Match-ups will be determined February 4, 2008