The ninth annual BracketBusters, a three-day men's college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other Feb. 18-20, will feature 11 nationally televised games - on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU -- selected from a pool of 114 teams, the largest pool in the event's history.
For the sixth straight year, ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will televise five BracketBusters games while ESPN or ESPN2 will televise up to six contests. The 11 televised BracketBusters matchups will be announced Jan. 31.
For the fifth straight year every Ohio Valley Conference school eligible for postseason play will be a member of the pool of teams participating in the event. Murray State, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin will serve as host institutions while Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State and Morehead State will play road contests.
At least one OVC school has competed in each of the last seven events, with Austin Peay having made the most appearances (2010-11 will be the program's eighth). Murray State's 4-2 record in the event is the best among OVC schools. The Racers were selected for a TV matchup last year, topping Morgan State 75-66 at home. OVC schools have been selected for TV matchups five times overall.
BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play, will provide the 22 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks before Selection Sunday. The 92 teams not selected for the BracketBusters TV field will compete against each other on the same three days.
The 114-team field will feature teams from 15 conferences as well as one independent: 12 from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic; 10 from the Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley and Metro Atlantic Athletic; nine from Big Sky, Big South, Big West and Western Athletic; eight from the Horizon League; five from America East and Southern; two from the MEAC and West Coast; and one from the Summit League, as well as independent Seattle.
As part of the agreement, all 11 of the BracketBusters home teams in televised games, as well as the remaining 46 home squads, will play a “return” game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the 2012-13 season.
BracketBusters is part of ESPN's college basketball franchise programming, along with Rivalry Week Presented by Cisco, Feast Week presented by Lowe's, Holiday Hoops Presented by Kay Jewelers, Judgment Week and Championship Week Presented by Dick's Sporting Goods.
Teams participating this season in BracketBusters have produced 74 appearances in the last five NCAA Tournaments.
