TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ?Indiana State has been selected as one of the several men's basketball programs to compete in the sixth-annual O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters series, a two-day event which matches up potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other on February 22-23, 2008.
Last season, the Sycamores hosted Miami (Ohio) of the Mid-American Conference and were one of five teams in the Missouri Valley Conference to fall in defeat. ISU managed to score just one point in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as the Redhawks rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat the Sycamores, 70-58, in the Hulman Center on February 17. Indiana State has been tabbed as one of five Valley schools to go on the road in this year's event.
The pool of teams is comprised of all 10 Missouri Valley Conference members as well as 12 teams from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic, 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference, 10 from the Horizon League and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, nine from the Big West and Western Athletic Conferences, four from the America East and Southern Conferences, two from the Patriot, Big Sky and Big South Conferences and one from the Summit League, West Coast and Atlantic Sun Conferences.
The field is highlighted by the return of last season's BracketBusters participants Butler and MVC member Southern Illinois, both Sweet Sixteen teams in last year's NCAA Tournament. In all, the 2008 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters pool features teams with 74 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments
ISU head coach Kevin McKenna believes the event will give his team and the league some good competition and exposure.
“Usually the match-ups in this series are very competitive and can really help a team late in the season,” said McKenna. “It's pretty hard for most schools, especially in the Valley, to get a quality non-conference game on their schedule that late in the season, so playing in this event really helps some schools out. However, this event has become pretty big over the last few years and a bad showing can also really hurt some teams on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.”
Of the 50 games, 14 will be nationally televised. Those contests will be announced on February 4, while game time and network assignments will be announced February 11. A total of six games will be broadcast on ESPN2 and for the third straight year, ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will televise five BracketBusters contests. ESPN360.com, ESPN's customized broadband service, will offer two games and will also simulcast ESPN2's six telecasts. This year's coverage will also feature the addition of a game on ESPN Classic.
BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play, 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. Also, as part of the agreement, home teams will play a return game at the home facility of their opponent during the following season.
