Tonight at 6:30 ESPNU will air the "Bracket Buster Selection Show," in which they will announce the 22 teams that will meet up in 11 nationally televised games.
From February 18 -20th, 114 teams from 15 "mid-major" conference will play, for a total of 57 games. While the schedule is subject to change, two games will be played Friday night, eight will be played throughout the day on Saturday. The final game will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Here are my thoughts on the 22 teams that should be seen in one of the featured games on ESPN2 or ESPNU over that weekend.
Friday 7pm -
Missouri St Bears 17-5 (9-2) @ Valparaiso Crusaders 16-6 (8-2)
The Bears fueled by Kyle Weems (16.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg) sit in a tie at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings. Valparaiso, after beating 2010 NCAA Tourney runner-up Butler on Saturday, are half a game back of Cleveland State in the Horizon League. While the RPIs are 36 and 54, Valpo's 103-102 win in December at Oakland, makes this match-up an intriguing one.
Friday 9pm -
George Mason Patriots 17-5 (9-2) @ Wichita St Shockers18-4 (9-2)
The other team at the top of the MVC is Wichita St. All four of their losses come against RPI Top 100 teams, wins against Evansville (RPI 117) and Indiana St (115) are their only chances at an at-large. A home match-up against the #33 RPI team in the country, could be make or break for them. George Mason could come into this game with the Colonial League title nearly wrapped up as 4 of their next 5 games are against teams in the Top 5 of the conference.
Saturday 11 am -
Kent St Golden Flashes 14-7 (4-2) @ Charleston Cougars 15-7 (8-2)
A bad loss at Davidson on Saturday dropped the Cougars out of the Southern League league and nearly dropped them out of the Top 100 RPI. As high as 74 in the past week, they now sit t 90. Kent St on the other hand has jumped from 96 to 70 after wins against Miami (OH) and Ball St.
Saturday 1 pm -
Morehead St Eagles @ Drexel Dragons
Austin Peay and Morehead St are within a game of each other in the Ohio Valley Conference, RPIs at 110 and 114. Choosing between the two who both play away games this year is very tough. However the Eagles knocked off the Governors in the teams most recent meeting. Morehead St also boasts home wins against Kent St and Charleston (the two teams playing right before them) I have them taking on Drexel, the Dragons are an inconsistent team. Beating Lousivlle by 6 and then getting beat by an even more inconsistent Syracuse team by 28. The RPIs aren't a perfect match but with Drexel barely over .500 in a league with 3 teams hovering in the Top 50, they will need this one.
Saturday 3 pm -
Vermont Catamounts 16-5 (7-2) @ James Madison Dukes 17-6 (7-4)
The fans at James Madison will argue that they deserve better but with so good mid-majors skipping the program this year (Harvard, Butler, Gonzaga, Oakland, Coastal Carolina) the picking are slim. JMU had already played Kent St earlier in the year breaking up that match-up. The Catamounts are no slouch though, while their strength of schedule is weak they rebound the hell out of the ball. With a 6'6 freshman forward, averaging 10 per game, the team is 27th in the country in rebounding. James Madison is 116th in the category.
Saturday 5 pm ESPNU
Hofstra Pride 14-8 (8-3) @ Wright St Raiders 14-9 (7-4)
After losing two straight conference games Hofstra will look to bounce back against George Mason on Wednesday the 2nd. But a win at the Wright State's Nutter Center in Dayton might be enough to push them on to the bubble. Charles Jenkins has been lighting up the scoresheet for the Pride, averaging 23.3 a night. Wright St counters with a trio of guards all averaging double digits.
Saturday 5 pm ESPN2
Virginia Commonwealth Rams 18-5 (10-1) @ Northern Iowa Panthers 17-6 (8-3)
A big win against UCLA coupled with a questionable loss to South Florida, makes me wonder what VCU is really made of. They lead the Colonial Athletic Conference and have won nine straight. Northern Iowa has won 7 straight, including two away games at conference leaders Missouri St and Wichita St. the Panthers, last years tournament surprise, would need a win here to even think about an at-large bid, they are without a signature win and rank 290th in points, 332nd in rebounds and 315th in assists.
Saturday 7 pm
Cleveland St Vikings 20-3 (9-2) @ Old Dominion Monarchs 17-5 (8-3
CSU is one of two 20 win teams in the BracketBusters this year. They are another team without a big win, looking for a shot at an at-large in case they don't win the tournament. CSU is the #30 RPI team in the country, Old Dominion is the #31 RPI team in the country. The two have been within 1 or 2 spots of each other for the past 2 weeks. It's a good match-up between the two highest rated mid-major conferences (A-10 and C-USA excluded) in RPI.
Saturday 9pm
Utah St Aggies 20-2 (9-0) @ St. Mary's Gaels 18-4 (6-1)
The argument can be made that both of these teams are already in, and having them play each other doesn't benefit anyone. It does give us a good basketball game between two teams that are very similar in talent. St Mary's is the best home team available while Utah St and Cleveland St would both state strong cases for being the bet away team. Logistically this game makes more sense. You have the WAC leader vs the WCC leader, both in the RPI Top 40
Saturday 11pm
Montana Grizzlies 16-5 (8-1) @ Long Beach St 49ers 13-10 (8-2)
It's unlikely that one of the marquee games would be played at 11 o'clock. So you have a couple teams from out West who are hovering between 95-110 in the RPI match-up against eachother. The two teams lead their respective conference (Big Sky and Big West).
Sunday 1pm
Somebody @ Fairfield Stags 16-4 (9-1)
As I said there are too many good teams skipping out on the BracketBusters, partially because they don't get anything out of it. Which leaves the field slim for good match-ups that don't make people angry. Fairfield belongs here in a televised match-up the only question is who do the people in charge want to throw in there. They might just throw a team in for the sake of viewership.
I'll be back after the announcements with commentary.
