The Bracket Busters is a series that began in 2003 and was designed to pit mid-majors in inter-conference battles late in the regular season. With ESPN tied in, it brings national TV audiences to places they may normally not go.
It helps these teams immensely by getting them exposure, pumping up their RPI numbers and answers some of those questions about the strength of these mid-major conferences.
102 teams were named to be in this year's event ... which will take place on February 20-21.
The marquee name will be Davidson College, home of Stephen Curry and a Wildcats team that were a shot away from getting to the Final Four.
Other big time mid-majors include Butler, Drake, San Diego, Nevada, St. Mary's, Bucknell and George Mason.
Matchups will be set on February 9th. After the jump are the teams that are participating.
Tuesday night belonged to New Hampshire, the Big East and the Big Ten but there was one mid major conference holding court as well. The Missouri Valley played three games, highlighted by the most recent Jekyll and Hyde performance by Southern Illinois. When they lose, the Salukis shoot poorly and turn the ball over in bushels. Last night, they shot 67% in the first half and gave it away 11 times and, thus, cruised past Bradley 77-64 in Carbondale.
Matt Shaw led the way with 18 points but five Salukis were in double-figures thanks to a focus on ball control. Bryan Mullins had seven assists, which led to good shots, trips to the free throw line and a key win in their attempt to make a run at the MVC crown. As always, their defense was in fine form.
Bradley, playing their fourth straight without point guard Daniel Ruffin, turned the ball over 18 times. Sam Maniscalco, playing more minutes in Ruffin's absence, had six of them. That's why, even as SIU's shooting dipped to 27% in the second half, Bradley couldn't cut into their 18-point halftime lead. Bradley's lost six straight and Ruffin's hernia surgery appears to be the nail in the coffin of their season.
I think it's safe to say that the Missouri Valley Conference season isn't playing out as predicted. Southern Illinois , Bradley and Creighton got most of the preseason talk and even though conventional wisdom held that it would be hard to find a second tournament-worthy team after the Salukis, people assumed that there would be quite a fight between those teams.
Reality has proven to be quite different. If SIU doesn't win the tourney, they ain't playing in the postseason, Bradley is 0-3 in conference after losing to Wichita State, which only improved to 1-2. Creighton has the same lackluster mark after squeezing past Missouri State 50-49 yesterday and the teams to watch are Drake, Indiana State and Illinois State.
Illinois State struck the biggest blow yesterday by sending Southern Illinois to another loss, 56-47 at Redbird Arena. Levi Dyer and Osiris Eldridge, two All-MVC candidates who come off the bench for Tim Jankovich, combined to hit seven three-pointers and bury the Salukis. The 'Birds led 31-13 at the half as SIU turned in their customary nightmarish offensive performance. Joshua Bone missed all eight of his shots, the team was 13-of-50 overall and they turned the ball over 21 times in a stomach-turning and all too common display of ineptitude.
The MVC took a hit on Friday night when A.J. Graves' three gave Butler a win in Carbondale but the conference does not exist because of Southern Illinois alone. While SIU's struggles may get attention, the MVC still has a better RPI than any other league that doesn't play in BCS games. That should buoy their hopes of multiple bids come March but, if the first night of conference play is any indication, they may be too closely matched for any teams to stand out. No home teams won on game night one.
The biggest win came in Omaha where Illinois State routed Creighton. The Bluejays felt like a conference favorite but the Redbirds flew much higher in the 80-67 win. They shot 51.9%, had five players in double figures led by Levi Dyer. The backup center hit five threes and finished with 20 points and looks like he's past the off-court troubles that led to his benching. Arrested for DUI, Dyer has worked his way back into good graces and combines with Osiris Eldridge and Anthony Slack to give ISU a deep, balanced attack.
Drake is 10-1 after holding off Wichita State 62-54. The difference came from three, where Drake hit 8-of-21 but the Shockers managed to knock down only three in the same amount of tries. They also missed 15-of-24 free throw attempts in a home loss that offered much doubt about their chances in conference this season.
Northern Iowa held Bradley to nine first-half points and cruised to a 59-48 win. In Evansville, Indiana State got 22 points from Gabriel Moore and rolled to a 70-56 win against the Purple Aces.
When Maryland beat Morgan State on December 6, it was Gary Williams' 131st nonconference home win in 134 tries. When Maryland hosts Delaware on Friday, he'll take his third whack at number 132. After losing to Ohio, Williams and the Terps got beat in College Park again yesterday by their neighbors from American. That's a pretty rare occurance in the 80 year history between the two schools. The only other Eagles win was in their first meeting, sometime in the 1926-27 season. The exact date has escaped memory, something that's unlikely to happen with yesterday's 67-59 win.
Derrick Mercer won't soon forget his 18 points, for example, and Bryce Simon will always remember his career-high 17. None of the Eagles will forget holding the Terps to five first half baskets nor will they need reminders of the way they outhustled, outrebounded and outdefended their more heralded opponents. For a team that's lost to Fairfield and Loyola (MD), this win came out of left field and will have Williams pulling out his hair in search of answers.
Greivis Vasquez had 28 points and the other guard Eric Hayes had 16 but the rest of the Terps only made four baskets. Maryland was so flat and lifeless, though, that its pretty clear the problems go well beyond shooting. Williams benched Braxton Dupree and Landon Milbourne in the second half, probably the first of many changes in what's looking like a long season.
People go to Las Vegas to gamble and when you gamble there's always a chance you're gonna lose. Purdue is obviously not up for that kind of trip to Sin City so they got their losing out of the way while still in West Lafayette. Wofford beat the Boilermakers 69-66 in the second round of the Las Vegas Classic, a holiday bash that has its first two rounds played on campus sites as opposed to the Strip. The Terriers played from behind for most of the night but Purdue could never deliver a knockout blow, leaving Shane Nichols with a chance to play hero.
Nichols banged home a three to tie the score at 66 with 49 seconds left and then the Terriers forced a turnover and kept grabbing offensive rebounds until he hit a layup with two seconds to play. Purdue never got a shot up in that last minute and lost a game they really shouldn't have. Wofford's only other win against a D-1 team was a one-pointer against UNC-Greensboro and they turned the ball over 16 times last night. Since the Boilermakers play in the Big 10, though, that Greensboro win may still sit alone.
One of the best moves the Horizon League has ever made was their decision to welcome Valparaiso to the fold this season. The Crusaders helped the conference to a 5-1 mark in games played Sunday and they are 10-1 after routing Chicago State 90-61. The vowel obsessed Samuel Haanpaa hit 10 three-pointers and finished with 32 points to lead Valpo to their eighth straight victory. The Finnish sharpshooter and the rest of Homer Drew's crew will have to be at their best over the next two weeks to keep the winning streak alive. They play at Wisconsin and then travel to Chapel Hill on December 30 in games that could go a long way toward deciding how many Horizon clubs make the Big Dance.
Butler will certainly be one of them. A.J. Graves shook off his recent struggles and buried seven threes of his own to lead the #19 Bulldogs to a 79-68 win over Florida State. The win, technically a neutral siter despite being in Indianapolis, puts the loss to Wright State well into the rear-view. Those Raiders had another impressive win, coming back from 16 down to beat Miami of Ohio 58-57. Illinois-Chicago beat DePaul for Windy City bragging rights while their Land of Lincoln compatriots at Loyola knocked off Northern Illinois to round out a great day for the Horizon.
The rest of the winners and losers after the jump.
I don't think you hang national title banners for cheerleading, but if you did, Wichita State University would have to take those banners down. WSU has been stripped of its national championship in cheerleading, although it has nothing to do with the infamous cheerleader you see in this screen shot doing a hand motion that some folks consider naughty.
No, WSU was disqualified for using a non-student in the competition. Dan Shanoff asks, "What kind of idiot coach knowingly lets that happen?" I have the same question. I mean, seriously: Don't they know that "Excellence in the classroom ranks as first priority; ahead of excellence in the gym, stadium, or field"? It's the fourth item in the National Cheerleaders Association Creed.
Just days after landing Gregg Marshall to be their new head coach, Wichita State lost one of their recruits today as he passed away while playing in a pickup game with Marshall in attendance. Guy Ntang was a Cameroonian native who had signed to play for former Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon, and Marshall was visiting to confirm his continued interest to play for the Shockers. Evidently Tang had indicated that he was in fact still planning on attending Wichita State in a meeting with Marshall before he suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed on the court.
On a day where the entire country was reminded of the frailty of life, even for teenagers, this is yet another blow.
Now, Gregg Marshall did leave Winthrop before -- for maybe 5 minutes -- but this time it looks serious. Not to mention for a lot more money than the time the College of Charleston called. Sorry, but until he signs and makes it through the first 48 hours or so, the whole deal has to be viewed as still tentative. That's what happens when you've backed out before.
Wichita State (assuming Marshall doesn't change his mind) probably got one of the better coaches from the mid-major ranks. If anything makes the argument that the Missouri Valley Conference has made it to at least A-10 or C-USA status of the late 90s, it's poaching smaller mid-major schools for their head coach. Congrats to Wichita State and the MVC for showing how serious they are about being a force in college basketball.
NCAA Basketball 
Update 2/2/09: The 2009 BracketBusters matchups have been announced.
Tuesday night belonged to New Hampshire, the Big East and the Big Ten but there was one mid major conference holding court as well. The Missouri Valley played three games, highlighted by the most recent Jekyll and Hyde performance by Southern Illinois. When they lose, the Salukis shoot poorly and turn the ball over in bushels. Last night, they shot 67% in the first half and gave it away 11 times and, thus, cruised past Bradley 77-64 in Carbondale. 
I think it's safe to say that the Missouri Valley Conference season isn't playing out as predicted. Southern Illinois , Bradley and Creighton got most of the preseason talk and even though conventional wisdom held that it would be hard to find a second tournament-worthy team after the Salukis, people assumed that there would be quite a fight between those teams. 
The MVC took a hit on Friday night when 
When Maryland beat Morgan State on December 6, it was 
People go to Las Vegas to gamble and when you gamble there's always a chance you're gonna lose. Purdue is obviously not up for that kind of trip to Sin City so they got their losing out of the way while still in West Lafayette. Wofford 
One of the best moves the Horizon League has ever made was their decision to welcome Valparaiso to the fold this season. The Crusaders helped the conference to a 5-1 mark in games played Sunday and they are 10-1 after routing 
I don't think you hang national title banners for cheerleading, but if you did, Wichita State University would have to take those banners down. WSU has been 
Just days after 
Now, Gregg Marshall did leave Winthrop before -- for maybe 5 minutes -- but this time it looks serious. Not to mention for a lot more money than the time the College of Charleston called. Sorry, but until he signs and makes it through the first 48 hours or so, the whole deal has to be viewed as still tentative. That's what happens when you've backed out before.
