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ESPN Announces 2009 Bracketbuster Games Selected for Broadcast

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 , Posted by Christopher Byrne at 10:37 PM, under , , ,

Athens, GA (Feb 4, 2009) - It is a couple of days late, but here are the games and 26 teams selected for ESPNU BracketBuster weekend broadcast.

2009 ESPNU BracketBusters Pairings

Friday, Feb. 20, 2009

Virginia Commonwealth at Nevada
Illinois State at Niagara

Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009

George Mason at Creighton
#11 Butler at Davidson
Miami (OH) at Evansville
Hofstra at Fairfield
Green Bay at Long Beach State
Liberty at Old Dominion
Boise State at Portland State
#22 Utah State at Saint Mary's
Northern Iowa at Siena
Buffalo at Vermont
Northeastern at Wright State

The actual game times and networks will be announced on February 9, 2009.

ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will televise six BracketBusters games, while ESPN360.com, ESPN’s customized broadband service, will offer one. ESPN2 will televise five contests and ESPN will have one game.

ESPN360.com will also simulcast the ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts.

ESPNU BracketBusters will feature 13 nationally televised games selected from a pool of 102 teams. The matchups are highlighted by #11 Butler against Davidson, both undefeated in conference play, and #22 Utah State against Saint Mary’s, a 2008 NCAA Tournament participant that has been among the nation’s top 25 teams this season as recently as last week.

This year’s 26 ESPNU BracketBusters teams represent 12 conferences and:

* Two ranked teams: #11 Butler and #22 Utah State
* Four teams in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) top 50, including Butler at ninth and Siena at 20th; and 21 in the top 100
* Seven 2008 NCAA Tournament participants: Davidson, George Mason, Boise State, Butler, Portland State, Siena and Saint Mary’s
* Fourteen teams with 15 or more wins overall, and four undefeated in conference play (Butler, Davidson, Utah State and Siena)

The ESPNU BracketBusters concept, named because of the success of teams from these conferences in NCAA Tournament play through the years, provides participating programs with an opportunity to play top non-conference opponents about three weeks before Selection Sunday.

Each conference selected its participating teams before the season, and the matchups for the event were determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences.

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