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BracketBuster 2008

Doesn't Illinois St have the arena booked on that Saturday? I think they can only host the midnight game.

Yes the IHSA Girl's State tourney is going on All-day Saturday and most of the night Saturday night


Just imagine if they can't get a TV game because of it - there's no way they drop another top team to play ISU if it's not a TV game - which means ISU doesn't get the quality opponent it DESPERATELY needs right now.

From the Pantagraph:

Because of a conflict with the high school girls state tournament at Redbird Arena, ISU will be hosting the lone BracketBusters game on Sunday, Feb. 24. Missouri Valley Conference associate commissioner Mike Kern said that doesn’t necessarily preclude ISU’s game from being one of the televised games on ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360 or ESPN Classic. The other 49 games will be played Feb. 22 or 23.
 
Doesn't Illinois St have the arena booked on that Saturday? I think they can only host the midnight game.


Just imagine if they can't get a TV game because of it - there's no way they drop another top team to play ISU if it's not a TV game - which means ISU doesn't get the quality opponent it DESPERATELY needs right now.

OMG! Redbird Arena is the site for IHSA girls hoops. Can we suggest ISU Screwed Up?

Maybe just maybe.... they can get a Sunday game scheduled.
 
It's looking like BU can get one of the 14 televised games, but I'm fearful it will be on ESPN360... really hoping for an ESPNU or ESPN Classic game... that would be really good if we could get on there. Ideally if Nevada or Niagara was the opponent, probably would be a good game to have on TV. I'm not sure that Valpo or Cleveland St. would be ahead of us on the TV pecking order.....
 
It's looking like BU can get one of the 14 televised games, but I'm fearful it will be on ESPN360... really hoping for an ESPNU or ESPN Classic game... that would be really good if we could get on there. Ideally if Nevada or Niagara was the opponent, probably would be a good game to have on TV. I'm not sure that Valpo or Cleveland St. would be ahead of us on the TV pecking order.....
Cleveland State should NOT be ahead of us in the pecking order...Their RPI is a little better than ours right now, but they have lost 4 games in a row...all to teams with RPIs higher than 100...and they topped it off with a horrid performance last night losing to Loyola (RPI 220) by 12 points.
Valpo is also 3-6 in their last 9 games and is coming off a bad loss at home to Loyola in their last game...
So, if I were ESPN, I really doubt that I would trust either of those two teams to put on a good show in a TV game...BU is playing much better than both of those teams right now, is far more promotable (Sweet 16 team, an exciting player in Ruffin, last year's national leader in 3-point shooting in Crouch, a guaranteed 10K in attendance for the game, etc.). It's just way easier for them to try and sell BU in one of these TV games than it would be to try and sell someone on a Cleveland State or Valpo game.
 
I wouldn't rule out a midnight game either for ISU.

I really like our chances at some TV game - we have to be working ESPN right now about how better we are with Ruffin.

As I said before, I think Nevada is our #1 option - a solid return game for next year is a priority.
 
Just re-showing my tv games with a teams conference place along with rpi (RPI - team - Conf Place):

22 St Mary's (WCC 2nd) vs 45 Kent (MAC 1st)
23 Butler (Hori 1st) vs 8 Drake (MVC 1st)
44 ISU (MVC 2nd) vs 52 George Mason (Col 2nd)
50 Ohio (MAC 1st) vs 57 VCU (Col 1st)
53 ORU (Sum 1st) vs 70 Davidson (Srn 1st)
75 Akron (MAC 1st) vs 54 Creighton (MVC 3rd)
79 SIU (MVC 3rd) vs 63 Wright St (Hori 2nd)
86 Cleve St (Hori 2nd) vs 93 Marist (MAAC 2nd)
87 Valpo (Hori 5th) vs 77 Mia-Oh (MAC 6th)
90 Utah St (WAC 1st) vs 146 Portland St (BSky 1st)
94 App St (Srn 2nd) vs 102 Rider (MAAC 1st)
98 Bradley (MVC 3rd) vs 81 Nevada (WAC 5th)
104 CS-Nor (BW 1st) vs 105 Niagara (MAAC 2nd)
122 Austin Peay (OVC 1st) vs 120 Siena (MAAC 2nd)

the others...

99 UNI (MVC 3rd) vs 163 W Mich (MAC 1st)
103 Wisc-GB (Hori 6th) vs 117 Indy St (MVC 7th)
112 Winthrop (BS 2nd) vs 107 Ga So (Srn 5th)
114 Boise St (WAC 2nd) vs 96 UCSB (BW 4th)

Conf RPI Standings with teams involved in BracketBuster:

8 MVC
10 Horizon
12 WCC
13 MAC
14 Colonial
16 Southern
17 Patriot
18 WAC
19 Metro Atlantic (MAAC)
20 BigWest
22 Summit
25 BigSky
26 Big South
27 America East
28 Mid Eastern Athletic (MEAC)
29 Atlantic Sun
30 OVC
 
Just when I thought things looked good... JPalm has just updated his site. Guess games are over for today. You may not think it changes much, but I am gonna re-look over it again (since I don't watch football, hehe)... Niagara went from 105 to 136.

So stay tuned and check back in a couple hours. ;)
 
Here they are!

rpi - team - conf place
(home team on left)

22 St Mary's (2 WCC) vs 48 Kent (1 MAC)
23 Butler (1 Hz) vs 8 Drake (1 MVC)
46 ISU (2 MVC) vs 52 George Mason (2 Col)
50 Ohio (1 MAC) vs 57 VCU (1 Col)
53 ORU (1 Sum) vs 54 Creighton (3 MVC)
75 Akron (1 MAC) vs 69 Davidson (1 Srn)
79 SIU (3 MVC) vs 61 Wright St (2 Hz)
87 Cleve St (2 Hz) vs 95 Marist (2 MAAC)
89 Utah St (1 WAC) vs 96 UCSB (4 BW)
93 App St (2 Srn) vs 103 Rider (1 MAAC)
97 Bradley (3 MVC) vs 80 Nevada (5 WAC)
104 CS-Northridge (1 BW) vs 146 Portland St (1 BSky)
111 Winthrop (2 BS) vs 108 Georgia So (5 Srn)
121 Austin Peay (1 OVC) vs 135 E Tenn St (2 ASun)

others maybe bumping into tv....

86 Valpo (5 Hz) vs 76 Mia-Oh (6 MAC)
99 UNI (3 MVC) vs 116 Siena (2 MAAC)
102 Wisc-GB (6 Hz) vs 118 Indiana St (7 MVC)

Conference repsresentation:

5 MVC
3 Horizon (Hz), MAC, Southern (Srn)
2 Big West, Colonial, MAAC, WAC
1 Atlantic Sun, Big South, Big Sky, OVC, Summit, WCC

Not represented on tv but participating: Patriot and America East

Missing: Sun Belt teams, too bad S Alabama (35 RPI) and W Kentucky (70 RPI) aren't in the field.
 
Last edited:
Lunardi's take:

On Monday, the 2008 BracketBuster pairings will be revealed. No one asked me, but these would be my 14 featured games from the available 100-team pool:

??? Drake (19-1, 10-0 Missouri Valley) at Butler (19-2, 8-2 Horizon League)
??? Kent State (17-4, 6-1 MAC) at St. Mary's (17-3, 4-1 West Coast Conference)
??? Davidson (14-6, 12-0 SoCon) at Illinois State (15-6, 7-3 Missouri Valley)
??? VCU (15-5, 8-2 CAA) at Oral Roberts (14-5, 9-0 Summit League)
??? Nevada (13-7, 5-2 WAC) at Southern Illinois (11-10, 6-4 Missouri Valley)
??? George Mason (15-6, 7-3 CAA) at Ohio U. (14-6, 5-2 MAC)
??? Creighton (14-6, 5-5 Missouri Valley) at CS Northridge (15-4, 7-0 Big West)
??? UC Santa Barbara (16-5, 5-3 Big West) at Utah State (15-6, 5-1 WAC)
??? Niagara (13-6, 7-3 MAAC) at Akron (15-5, 5-2 MAC)
??? Rider (16-6, 9-2 MAAC) at Boise State (15-5, 6-2 WAC)
??? Siena (13-7, 8-2 MAAC) at Cleveland State (14-8, 7-3 Horizon League)
??? Georgia Southern (14-8, 7-5 SoCon) at Valparaiso (14-7, 5-4 Horizon League)
??? Wright State (12-6, 5-4 Horizon League) at Appalachian State (13-7, 8-3 SoCon)
??? Marist (14-8, 8-3 MAAC) at Winthrop (14-7, 5-1 Big South)
 
Whoops my bad MM:eek: For some reason I thought you had posted J Palm's take.

Cpac,

What do you know about ISU's bracketbuster options playing their game on Sunday. Does that leave them out of a TV game or would ESPN change their programming and televise a Sunday game?
 
I think we should do an impromptu BracketBuster 'pick 'em' -

1. Opponent
2. Network
3. Time slot

I'm going to say Nevada, ESPNU, 8 PM tip.

Logic - 2 mid-major programs with 'name' recognition, recent 'name' players (O'Bryant, Fazekas), and recent national success. 8 PM tip for the West Coast folks to see. Hope I am right!
 
I think we should do an impromptu BracketBuster 'pick 'em' -

1. Opponent
2. Network
3. Time slot

I'm going to say Nevada, ESPNU, 8 PM tip.

Logic - 2 mid-major programs with 'name' recognition, recent 'name' players (O'Bryant, Fazekas), and recent national success. 8 PM tip for the West Coast folks to see. Hope I am right!

1. Mia-Oh
2. ESPN 360
3. 7pm Central
 
BradleyBrave has the right idea - it makes so much sense for both Bradley and Nevada to have this game.

The question is if Nevada is needed for a better game.

We're on the bubble. I'll take a pessimistic, yet realistic view.



Bradley vs. Siena
No TV
 
Cpac,

What do you know about ISU's bracketbuster options playing their game on Sunday. Does that leave them out of a TV game or would ESPN change their programming and televise a Sunday game?

They will play Sunday. They won't play the midnight spot on Saturday night.

I am pretty sure it will still be on TV too. Probably ESPNU, but potentially only ESPN360.

On that Sunday the ISU Women also have a home game at 1:05pm. So the men's game will either be late afternoon or Sunday evening.
 
They will play Sunday. They won't play the midnight spot on Saturday night.

I am pretty sure it will still be on TV too. Probably ESPNU, but potentially only ESPN360.

On that Sunday the ISU Women also have a home game at 1:05pm. So the men's game will either be late afternoon or Sunday evening.

Thanks for the update CPac.

Just joking around here.... but can we admit from all this "scheduling around" the Men's team has to do that the ISU Men's team plays 3rd fiddle to IHSA GIRL'S hoops and the ISU WOMEN'S hoops. Hehe ;)
 
Thanks for the update CPac.

Just joking around here.... but can we admit from all this "scheduling around" the Men's team has to do that the ISU Men's team plays 3rd fiddle to IHSA GIRL'S hoops and the ISU WOMEN'S hoops. Hehe ;)

That is the problem with hosting some of the IHSA events. Sometimes their is a conflict.

And the ISU women were just ranked #24 in the nation. I don't mind playing 2nd fiddle to a nationally ranked team. ;)
 
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