BracketBuster 2008

[squirrel]

I'm still crossing my fingers for Niagara but it looks like they have spiked substantially during their 5 game win streak that included a win vs. Marist, 3 road wins, and Cable Car Classic Championship over host Santa Clara.

[Long-Hair's Lunatics]

I think that Bowling Green would be a quality opp and a great game for everyone....



... at least they have kinda cool colors....



maybe a w.... at home....

[MacabreMob]

Update with RPI's from collegerpi.com based on games played thru 1-12. We are less than 3 weeks away from the announcement of matchups which will be on Feb 2nd. There will be 14 matchups televised on the ESPN family of channels. They usually try to match the top Home vs Road - then keep RPI's heavily in mind for the rest of the TV games... then it's all downhill from there as they try to match teams more on a Regional basis.

Squirrel's hope for Niagara might be nice. I put BU in bold red (obviously) and italicized some good possibilities IMO in dark red.


HOME
6 St Mary's
18 Butler
37 Illinois State
45 Ohio
57 CS Northridge
59 Valparaiso
60 Oral Roberts
63 Cleveland State
67 So Illinois
89 Holy Cross
97 Akron
98 Winthrop
100 Wisc-GB
112 Missouri State
114 Appalachian State
116 Utah State
119 Austin Peay
127 East Tn St
129 Bradley
131 New Mexico State
140 No Arizona
143 James Madison
147 Toledo
151 Pacific
153 No Iowa
158 Fresno State
161 CS Fullerton
167 Boise State
174 UC Irvine
176 William & Mary
179 Drexel
180 Old Dominion
193 UNC-Wilmington
196 Buffalo
206 Loyola (Maryland)
213 Murray State
234 Elon
236 Iona
250 Eastern Michigan
253 Towson
256 Manhattan
262 Eastern Kentucky
265 No Illinois
266 Detroit
291 St Peter's
310 UC Riverside
325 Canisius
331 Louisiana Tech
340 Jacksonville State
341 Eastern Illinois

ROAD
15 Drake
32 Miami (Ohio)
38 Kent State
39 Creighton
56 George Mason
62 Nevada
68 VCU
69 Niagara
74 Georgia Southern
78 Marist
81 Wright State
82 Siena
87 Indiana State
88 UC Santa Barbara
95 Davidson
101 Central Michigan
121 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
139 Illinois-Chicago
144 Wichita State
145 Delaware
156 Rider
157 Northeastern
162 Portland State
178 Youngstown State
184 San Jose State
199 High Point
201 Fairfield
208 Bowling Green
209 Western Michigan
217 SE Missouri State
225 Cal Poly
228 Vermont
230 Evansville
233 Albany
239 Bucknell
241 Morehead State
248 Tennessee-Martin
254 Tennessee State
260 UC Davis
270 Boston University
274 Hofstra
276 Ball State
286 Binghamton
298 Hawaii
299 Loyola (Illinois)
305 Georgia State
307 Tennessee Tech
311 Samford
316 Long Beach State
324 Idaho

[Braves4Life]

Davidson, Ga. Southern, or Siena would all be great games. I'm hoping for Davidson and Curry.

[MacabreMob]

Bradley is in a position to ascend in the RPI by Feb 3rd when BracketBuster Matchups are made. Bradley plays 4 of the next 6 at home and the 2 road games are at Wichita St and EVille. At best, if Bradley were to win all 6, I would guess maybe a 60-70 jump in the RPI (I have no idea - really tho).

[BradleyBrave]

I wish there was a way we could get on TV, but I don't think that's possible with the RPI hole we've dug. Let's just win 'em all and see what happens.

[BuBraves55]

im having fantasies already.... bu getting hot, espn comes back into peoria only to see bradley led by a surprise appearance of Cpt. Brave win the bracketbuster in a blowout and then a couple weeks later bu wins the tourny in st. louis and the students charge the floor led by none other than....Cap'n. (superfan not far behind)

[Guinness]

Bradley is in a position to ascend in the RPI by Feb 3rd when BracketBuster Matchups are made. Bradley plays 4 of the next 6 at home and the 2 road games are at Wichita St and EVille. At best, if Bradley were to win all 6, I would guess maybe a 60-70 jump in the RPI (I have no idea - really tho).

Any news on Ruffins progress?

[Da Coach]

Any news on Ruffins progress?

Dave Reynolds' article 1/14 has an update--

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/011408/DAV_BFG601MB.071.php

[BradleyBrave]

I personally think you'll see Ruffin return February 2 in Evansville. I don't have any inside info, that's just my gut feeling.

[chitown fanatic]

the Captain looked pretty sad at the end of the game against Wichita. He even forgot his ball that the cheerleaders gave him. I talked with him a bit during the game, he mentioned it was very nice that he got a ball from the cheerleader...he just wished he could have seen a win. I didn't ask him if he was coming back again. He only seems to appear sporadically.

[MacabreMob]

Updated using JPalm's RPI at www.collegerpi.com

RPI's are games played thru Sunday 1-20.

Matchups will be made 12-14 days from now (I think they do the 14 TV games on Sat Feb 2nd followed by the rest of games announced on Feb 4th).

Home
7 St Mary's
22 Butler
34 Illinois State
36 Ohio
50 Cleveland State
55 Oral Roberts
60 Valparaiso
61 CS Northridge
65 So Illinois
68 Akron
89 Appalachian State
100 Utah State
103 Winthrop
111 Austin Peay
114 Missouri State
123 East Tn St
124 Wisc-GB
130 Bradley
133 No Arizona
135 Holy Cross
138 Pacific
142 Boise State
144 New Mexico State
145 No Iowa
151 James Madison
157 CS Fullerton
172 William & Mary
173 Old Dominion
178 UNC-Wilmington
185 Toledo
188 Loyola (Maryland)
189 Fresno State
196 Murray State
204 Drexel
207 UC Irvine
223 Buffalo
235 Iona
250 Towson
258 Elon
259 Manhattan
267 Eastern Michigan
279 No Illinois
282 Eastern Kentucky
289 UC Riverside
291 Detroit
318 Canisius
319 St Peter's
332 Louisiana Tech
340 Jacksonville State
341 Eastern Illinois

Road
14 Drake
41 Creighton
44 Kent State
51 George Mason
53 Miami (Ohio)
64 VCU
71 Georgia Southern
76 Wright State
80 UC Santa Barbara
93 Indiana State
95 Nevada
96 Davidson
97 Marist
98 Siena
109 Niagara
116 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
137 Delaware
141 Rider
146 Portland State
148 Wichita State
159 Illinois-Chicago
170 Northeastern
174 San Jose State
177 Youngstown State
184 Central Michigan
187 Albany
193 Bucknell
195 Western Michigan
206 Bowling Green
209 Vermont
210 Fairfield
228 Cal Poly
231 Morehead State
237 High Point
243 Binghamton
245 Hofstra
247 SE Missouri State
251 Tennessee State
252 Evansville
263 Tennessee-Martin
265 UC Davis
269 Hawaii
271 Boston University
273 Ball State
296 Loyola (Illinois)
298 Samford
304 Georgia State
311 Tennessee Tech
320 Long Beach State
323 Idaho

[MacabreMob]

Wisc-Mil currently looks like a "fit".

Squirrels desire for Niagara is a "fit" as well.

[MacabreMob]

I am taking my first stab at this year's top 20 matchups. We are 9 days away from the TV games being set and 11 from all games set.

Matchups listed with HOME team on left with their RPI vs the ROAD team on the right.

There might be some questions and fire away... but their are some teams that would match up better based on RPI or locale, but they have already played each other (examples: Drake has played at St Mary's, so they will NOT play each other in the BBuster).

I am using JPalm's RPI stats at www.collegerpi.com (for a very small fee, you can have full access to his daily updates, etc).

-Home on left side; #'s are RPI's

11 St Mary's vs 33 Kent State
23 Butler vs 8 Drake
37 Ohio vs 46 Creighton
42 Illinois State vs 50 George Mason
49 Cleveland State vs 61 VCU
56 Oral Roberts vs 65 Georgia Southern
58 Valparaiso vs 66 Miami (Ohio)
68 Akron vs 78 Wright State
73 So Illinois vs 91 Nevada
77 CalS Northridge vs 171 San Jose State
88 Appalachian St vs 89 Marist
93 Utah State vs 87 UC Santa Barbara
97 Winthrop vs 95 Davidson
114 Austin Peay vs 99 Indiana State
103 Missouri State vs 108 Niagara
133 No Iowa vs 107 Siena
128 East Tn St vs 111 Delaware
118 Bradley vs 116 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
123 Wisc-GB vs 190 Western Michigan
130 No Arizona vs 159 Wichita State

[PeoriaLou]

Remind me again how the TV rights for BracketBuster works. ESPN owns the rights to televise the games. If they decide NOT to televise the BU game, can Insight/Comcast buy the rights to televise the game?