ALL 12 CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAMS RETURN TO ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS
RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 4, 2008) - All 12 CAA men’s basketball teams will participate in the seventh annual ESPNU BracketBusters for the third consecutive year. The two-day event, which is set for February 20-21, 2009, will feature 13 nationally televised contests on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360.com.
The CAA has had tremendous success in BracketBusters, with the league posting an 8-3 record in televised contests over the past four years. CAA teams have registered several impressive victories in the event, including George Mason’s triumph at Wichita State in 2006, Drexel beating Creighton on the road in 2007 and VCU winning at Akron in 2008.
“No conference has benefitted more from BracketBusters than the CAA,” CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. “Having the opportunity to participate in a late-season national television game has dramatically helped position our teams for post-season consideration.”
A pool of 102 teams from 17 different conferences will participate in the 2009 BracketBusters. The field includes teams with 77 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments, including a team in the Final Four ? George Mason (2006); one in Elite Eight ? Davidson (2008) and six Sweet Sixteen squads ? Butler (2007), Southern Illinois (2007), Bradley (2006), Wichita State (2006), UW-Milwaukee (2005) and Nevada (2004).
Drexel, James Madison, UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, Towson and William and Mary will play home games, while Delaware, George Mason, Georgia State, Hofstra, Northeastern and VCU are road teams.
For the fourth straight year, ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will televise five BracketBusters games while ESPN360.com, ESPN’s customized broadband service, will offer two. ESPN2 will televise six contests. ESPN360.com will also simulcast ESPN2’s six telecasts. The 13 BracketBusters matchups will be announced February 2, while game time and network assignments will be announced February 9.
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 BracketBusters will compete against each other over the same two days.
The 102-team field will feature 12 teams from the CAA and the Mid-American; 10 from the Missouri Valley, Horizon League, Metro Atlantic Athletic and Ohio Valley; nine from the Western Athletic and Big West; four from the America East and Southern; three from the Big South, two from the Big Sky, Summit and West Coast and one from the Mid-Eastern Athletic, Northeast and Patriot.
As part of the agreement, all 13 of the BracketBusters home teams, as well as the remaining 38 home squads, will play a “return” game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the following season.
HOME TEAMS ROAD TEAMS
CAA CAA
Drexel Delaware
James Madison George Mason
UNC Wilmington Georgia State
Old Dominion Hofstra
Towson Northeastern
William & Mary VCU
America East America East
Boston University Hartford
Vermont UMBC
Big Sky Big Sky
Portland State Montana State
Big South Big South
Winthrop Gardner-Webb
Liberty
Big West Big West
Cal Poly Cal State Fullerton
Long Beach State Cal State Northridge
UC-Davis Pacific
UC-Santa Barbara UC-Irvine
UC-Riverside
Horizon Horizon
Loyola (Chicago) Butler
Milwaukee Cleveland State
UIC Detroit
Valparaiso Green Bay
Wright State
Youngstown State
Metro Atlantic Metro Atlantic
Fairfield Canisius
Marist Iona
Niagara Loyola (Md.)
Rider Manhattan
Siena Saint Peter’s
Mid-American Mid-American
Ball State Akron
Bowling Green Buffalo
Central Michigan Miami-Ohio
Eastern Michigan Northern Illinois
Kent State Ohio
Western Michigan Toledo
Mid-Eastern Athletic
Morgan State
Missouri Valley Missouri Valley
Creighton Bradley
Drake Illinois State
Evansville Missouri State
Indiana State Northern Iowa
Wichita State Southern Illinois
Northeast
Fairleigh Dickinson
Ohio Valley Ohio Valley
Eastern Kentucky Austin Peay
Murray State Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri Jacksonville State
Tennessee-Martin Morehead State
Tennessee State Tennessee Tech
Patriot
Bucknell
Southern Southern
Davidson Appalachian State
Georgia Southern Elon
West Coast Summit
Saint Mary’s North Dakota State
San Diego South Dakota State
Western Athletic Western Athletic
Hawaii Boise State
Idaho Fresno State
Nevada Louisiana Tech
New Mexico State Utah State
San Jose State