All 10 Horizon League Men's Basketball teams to play in ESPN BracketBusters
9/5/2008 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 5, 2008
All 10 Horizon League men's basketball teams will participate in the 2009 ESPNU BracketBusters February 20-21. The two-day extravaganza will feature 13 nationally-televised contests, which will be announced February 2.
Wright State, Loyola, Valparaiso, Youngstown State, Milwaukee and UIC will host games, while Butler, Cleveland State, Detroit and Green Bay will play on the road.
The TV games will be picked from a pool of 102 teams across the country. The field is highlighted by the return of last season's BracketBusters participant Davidson, which advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. ESPN2 will televise six games in this year's event, plus ESPN360.com will simulcast all six of those contests. ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will televise five BracketBusters affairs, while ESPN360.com, ESPN's customized broadband service, will show two.
BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play, 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 TV showdowns will compete against each other over the same two days.
The 102-team field includes 12 squads from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic Association in addition to 10 from the Horizon League, Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley Conference and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
As part of the BracketBusters agreement, all 51 home teams 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), Milwaukee (2005) and Nevada (2004).
Home Teams--Vermont, Boston University, Portland State, Winthrop, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC-Davis, UC-Santa Barbara, Drexel, James Madison, UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, Towson, William & Mary, UIC, Loyola, Milwaukee, Valparaiso, Wright State, Youngstown State, Fairfield, Marist, Niagara, Rider, Siena, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Western Michigan, Creighton, Drake, Evansville, Indiana State, Wichita State, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Bucknell, Davidson, Georgia Southern, San Diego, St. Mary's, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State.
Away Teams--Hartford, Maryland-Baltimore County, Montana State, Gardner-Webb, Liberty, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, UC-Irvine, UC-Riverside, Pacific, Delaware, George Mason, Georgia State, Hofstra, Northeastern, VCU, Butler, Cleveland State, Detroit, Green Bay, Canisius, Iona, Loyola (MD), Manhattan, St. Peter's, Akron, Buffalo, Miami, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Morgan State, Bradley, Illinois State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Fairleigh Dickinson, Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech, Appalachian State, Elon, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Boise State, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Utah State.
