MAAC Schools Assigned Matchups for 2008 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters
MAAC Sports
Edison, N.J. ? All 10 MAAC men’s basketball programs have received their pairings for the sixth annual O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters ? a multi-day men’s basketball event matching NCAA Championship hopefuls against each other on Friday, February 22, Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24.
Three of the 10 MAAC games will be televised: Marist at Cleveland State, Rider at Cal State Northridge, and Siena at Boise State. ESPN2 will televise six ESPNU BracketBusters contests, ESPNU will televise five, ESPN360.com ? ESPN’s customized broadband service ? will offer coverage of two, and for the first time, ESPN Classic will televise one. Game time and network assignments will be announced on February 11.
“We are extremely pleased with our three television appearances with this premier college basketball event,” Richard J. Ensor, Commissioner of the MAAC, said. “It sets the stage for the NCAA, NIT and CBI selections. The BracketBusters series is designed to give the selection committees insight on mid-major teams a few weeks before the selection process. This season, the MAAC has garnered national television exposure, as well as high-level non-conference opponents for this year and next year.”
O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event pairings for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
Albany at Canisius
Fairfield at Drexel
Hofstra at Iona
UC Davis at Loyola
Binghamton at Manhattan
Marist at Cleveland State
Niagara at Appalachian State
Rider at Cal State Northridge
Boston University at Saint Peter’s
Siena at Boise State
In last year’s BracketBusters series, the MAAC earned six victories as Fairfield defeated William & Mary (61-45), Iona bested Delaware (52-50), Loyola (Md.) outlasted Tennessee State (62-60), Marist topped Colgate (63-47), Niagara dominated Liberty (90-81) and Siena routed James Madison (77-66).
As part of the agreement, home teams will play a return game at the home facility of their 2008 O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters series opponent in November or December of the following season.
This year’s BracketBusters pool features teams with 74 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments, including a team in the Final Four - George Mason (2006); and seven Sweet Sixteen squads ? Butler (2007), Southern Illinois (2007), Bradley (2006), Wichita State (2006), UW-Milwaukee (2005), Nevada (2004) and Butler (2003).
The ESPNU BracketBusters concept, named because of the success of teams from these conferences in NCAA Tournament play over the past years, provides participating programs with an opportunity to play non-conference opponents approximately three weeks prior to 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 conferences.