TERRE HAUTE, Ind.  ? For the fourth time in history and for the third-straight year, the Indiana State Sycamores will take place in the O'Reilly/ESPNU Bracketbusters series.  This year's opponent will be the Murray State Racers from the Ohio Valley Conference, as was announced by the ESPN pairings committee on Monday.  Game time is set for 7 p.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.

ISU (10-11, 5-6 MVC) will take on take on Murray State (14-8, 10-4 OVC) for the seventh time in the series history, which dates back to 1945.  The Sycamores hold a 6-2 all-time advantage in the series, with the most recent action coming in a home-and-home series in 2001 (won 74-66 by ISU in Terre Haute, Ind.) and 2002 (won by MSU 85-39 in Murray, Ky.).

The Sycamores are 1-2 all-time in the BracketBuster series, having played Miami (Ohio) in last year's event, when ISU suffered a 70-57 loss to the RedHawks.  ISU picked up its lone win in the series in 2006 with a 51-49 win over Western Michigan, but did not participate in 2005.  The team's first game in the series took place in 2004, when ISU lost a 64-51 decision to Buffalo.

The O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBusters concept, named because of the success of the teams from those conferences in NCAA Tournament play over the past years, provides participating programs with an opportunity to play top non-conference opponents approximately three weeks away from Selection Sunday.  Each conference selected their participating teams prior to the season and the matchups for the event were determined by ESPN in conjunction with the participating conferences.

There were 28 teams selected from a pool of 100 teams to be featured as O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBusters teams, which will all have games broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.  All ten teams from the Missouri Valley Conference will take place in this year's event, which will be highlighted by league-leading No. 15 ranked Drake's match up against No. 11 Butler on national television.  Bradley, Creighton, Southern Illinois and Illinois State will also be featured on television.

This year's event also features No. 23 St. Mary's, who will face off against Kent State.  In all, six teams ranked in the top 50 of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) will be featured as well as 10 NCAA Tournament teams from 2007 and seventeen teams with 15 or more wins this season.

ISU takes on Southern Illinois in a MVC battle on Tuesday night at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill.  Tip off is set for 8:05 p.m. EST.