All Nine Horizon League Men's Basketball Teams Part of ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday Pool Again in 2006

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Sept. 15, 2005

For the second straight season, all nine of the Horizon League's men's basketball teams are part of the pool of teams eligible for the fourth annual Bracket Buster Saturday, a one-day college hoops extravaganza pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other just before the start of March Madness, it was announced Thursday (Sept. 15) by ESPN.


This year's event will be held Feb. 18 and will feature 11 nationally televised games selected from an expanded pool of 100 teams representing 18 Division I conferences. The 100 participating teams compares to 64 last season, 46 in 2004 and 18 in the inaugural event in 2003.


Five of the Horizon League's nine teams will play host to Bracket Buster Saturday games this season: Cleveland State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Loyola University Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Designated road teams from the League are Butler University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Wright State University and Youngstown State University.


ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise six Bracket Buster Saturday contests. The other five televised games will be broadcast on ESPNU -- ESPN's new collegiate network that was launched this past March.


Bracket Buster Saturday, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play in recent years, will provide the 22 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks prior to Selection Sunday (March 12). The 78 teams not selected for the event will compete against each other on the day. Home and road teams have been predetermined for scheduling purposes, and teams may be matched with any team outside of their respective conferences.


ESPN, in consultation with the conference commissioners, will make pairings decisions for the 11 Bracket Buster Saturday games on Jan. 29. Pairings decisions for the remaining 39 games will be announced by Feb. 2. In addition, each of the 50 total games includes a return game the following season as part of a home-and-home series.


"Bracket Buster Saturday continues to be a great opportunity for our league and our teams, particularly in positioning ourselves to play important, national-level games at a very meaningful time of the year," said Horizon League Commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone. "It also addresses some of our scheduling issues in that it creates competitive and entertaining home-and-home series on an annual basis. In addition, through Bracket Buster Saturday, we are able to solidify our long-term relationship with our broadcast partners at ESPN."


The Horizon League is one of seven conferences whose entire membership will participate in the 2006 Bracket Buster Saturday, joining the Mid-American (12 teams), Ohio Valley (11), Missouri Valley (10), Metro Atlantic (10), Western Athletic (9) and Big West (8). The 100-team field also will include eight teams from the Colonial Athletic; four apiece from the Big Sky and Sun Belt; three each from the Big South; two apiece from America East, Mid-Continent, Southern, Southland and West Coast; and one each from the Northeast and Patriot League. New to the pool this year are the Big South, Northeast, Patriot and Southland. The West Coast returns after a one-year absence.


"Having all our teams in the Bracket Buster Saturday field again this season illustrates our commitment to the long-term success of the event," LeCrone said. "Plus, it gives all our teams an opportunity to play themselves into a nationally televised game during the heart of the college basketball season."


The 100 teams in this season's Bracket Buster Saturday have combined for 71 team appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments, including five Sweet Sixteen squads in the last four NCAA Tournaments. The Horizon League boasts two of the five Sweet 16 teams in Butler in 2003 and UW-Milwaukee this past season.


Last season, two Horizon League teams earned spots in the Bracket Buster Saturday field with UW-Milwaukee winning at the University of Hawai'i 87-81 on ESPN2 and UW-Green Bay losing at home to Illinois State University 79-69 on ESPN Plus.


In its inaugural year in 2003, two of the three participating Horizon League teams won their Bracket Buster Saturday games as Detroit won at the University of California-Santa Barbara 75-59 and UIC defeated Bowling Green State University 83-72 at home, while UW-Milwaukee lost at Southern Illinois University 66-64. In 2004, the Panthers lost at home to Manhattan College 83-76 in the League's lone televised game.


Following are the predetermined home and road teams for the fourth annual Bracket Buster Saturday:

HOME TEAMS (50)

HORIZONCLEVELAND STATEDETROITLOYOLAUW-GREEN BAYUW-MILWAUKEE

Big SkyMontanaMontana State

Big SouthWinthrop

Big WestUC IrvinePacificUC RiversideCal State Fullerton

ColonialDrexelHofstraNortheasternOld DominionVCU

Metro AtlanticCanisiusIonaLoyola (Md.)ManhattanSaint Peter's

Mid-AmericanBall StateBowling GreenCentral MichiganKent StateMiami (Ohio)OhioWestern MichiganMid-ContinentValparaiso

Missouri ValleyBradleyCreightonEvansvilleNorthern IowaSouthern IllinoisWichita State

Ohio ValleyAustin PeayEastern IllinoisEastern KentuckyJacksonville StateMurray State

SouthernCollege of Charleston

Sun BeltUL LafayetteWestern Kentucky

West CoastSt. Mary's (Calif.)

Western AthleticBoise StateHawai'iNevadaSan Jose StateUtah State

VISITING TEAMS (50)

HorizonBUTLERUICWRIGHT STATEYOUNGSTOWN STATEAmerica EastAlbanyVermont

Big SkyEastern WashingtonNorthern Arizona

Big SouthHigh PointUNC Asheville

Big WestCal PolyLong Beach StateCal State NorthridgeUC Santa Barbara

ColonialDelawareGeorge MasonGeorgia State

Metro AtlanticFairfieldMaristNiagaraRiderSiena

Mid-AmericanAkronBuffaloEastern MichiganNorthern IllinoisToledo

Mid-ContinentOral Roberts

Missouri ValleyDrakeIllinois StateIndiana StateMissouri State

NortheastFairleigh Dickinson

Ohio ValleyMorehead StateSamfordSoutheast Missouri StateTennessee-MartinTennessee StateTennessee Tech

PatriotBucknell

SouthernUNC Greensboro

SouthlandNorthwestern StateStephen F. Austin

Sun BeltArkansas StateNew Orleans

West CoastSanta Clara

Western AthleticFresno StateIdahoLouisiana TechNew Mexico State