• ESPN Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters Website
The 2013 ESPN Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters matchups were announced on Monday. For the eighth-straight year every Ohio Valley Conference school is participating in the event. Six OVC schools will host games this year while six will go on the road. All games involving OVC teams will be played on Saturday, Feb. 23.
Out of the pool of 122 teams, three Ohio Valley Conference teams (Belmont, Eastern Kentucky and Murray State) were among the 26 teams chosen for one of 13 television games across the ESPN Family of Networks. This marks the first time that more than one OVC team has been picked for a BracketBusters television game in the same year. Only the Missouri Valley Conference (4 teams in TV games) was selected for more television games this year.
The TV matchups include Belmont (19-4, 10-0 OVC) hosting 2012 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Ohio (15-6, 6-1 Mid-American Conference), Murray State (16-5, 7-2 OVC) hosting South Dakota State (18-6, 9-2 Summit) and Eastern Kentucky (17-6, 7-3 OVC) traveling to Valparaiso (17-6, 7-2 Horizon). Valparaiso and South Dakota State are currently in first place in their respective conferences while Ohio is in second place.
The EKU game will kick off the day on ESPNU at 12:00 p.m. CT. The primetime slate will see an OVC doubleheader on ESPN2 as the Murray State/South Dakota State will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and will be followed by Belmont/Ohio at 9:00 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
Overall this marks the eighth different year an OVC school has been selected for a television game in the series and fourth year in a row. Last season Murray State topped Saint Mary’s 65-51 in a game played on ESPN with Dick Vitale providing analysis. OVC schools are 3-4 all-time in BracketBusters TV games, with Murray State going a perfect 3-0 in those contests (MSU also bested Rice in 2005 and Morgan State in 2010).
This year marks the first for Belmont competing in the BracketBusters series in its inaugural season in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Eastern Kentucky is 4-3 all-time in BracketBusters games and is appearing in its first BracketBusters TV matchup. Overall the Colonels have won four of its last five BracketBusters games.
In addition to being 3-0 in BracketBusters TV games, Murray State is 6-2 all-time in the event, the best record of any OVC team in the event. That Racers have won their last three BracketBusters contests.
The non-television matchups include:
Austin Peay (5-18) at Liberty (7-16),
Eastern Illinois (6-17) at Northern Illinois (5-15),
Jacksonville State (15-7) at UNC Asheville (13-10),
Morehead State (11-13) at Oakland (11-13), Ball State (8-12) at
Southeast Missouri (11-13),
SIUE (8-11) at Central Arkansas (9-11), Loyola (Md.) (16-8) at
Tennessee State (13-10), UMKC (6-18) at
Tennessee Tech (8-14) and Longwood (3-20) at
UT Martin (6-16).
Game times for the non-television matchups will be announced at a later date. The four OVC teams who will host non-TV BracketBusters games will have their matchups available for viewing live and for free on the OVC Digital Network.
In its 11th year, Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters is an ESPN television property that was tremendously successful with its first 10 events in February of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The event has allowed Division I conferences to participate in a cutting-edge format that involves "wild card" pairings from the pool of participating teams, with half of the BracketBusters teams pre-designated as "home" and the remaining half as "road" teams.
What sets BracketBusters apart from the other made-for-television events is that the pairings of teams is not pre-determined. The actual pairings take place three weeks in advance of the event, and those matchups are determined on the basis of regular season play. Another important component for Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters participants is future scheduling. Each team that participates in any given year agrees to enter into a home-and-home series with its to-be-named opponent. The return game allows for the completion of the two-game series contract and is not part of the BracketBusters event in that second year.
The evaluation and pairings of teams for the ESPN television package are made by the staff of ESPN, in consultation with the commissioners of participating conferences. Consideration is given to avoiding matchups of conference teams and matchups of any teams that have already met during the current season.
ESPN announced in December this will be the final year of the BracketBusters event.
OVC TEAMS IN BRACKETBUSTERS ALL-TIME RECORDS/FACTS
All-Time Record: 32-45
All-Time Home: 21-16
All-Time Road: 11-29
All-Time Record in Return Games: 37-34
All-Time Record in TV Games: 3-4
2003
No participants
2004
Austin Peay at Wichita State (TV - ESPN+) -- L, 62-47
2005
Austin Peay at East Tennessee State -- L, 85-81
Murray State at Rice (TV - ESPN+) -- W, 69-63
2006
Arkansas State at
Austin Peay -- W, 92-71
Eastern Michigan at
Eastern Illinois -- L, 65-50
UNC Asheville at
Eastern Kentucky -- L, 83-77
New Orleans at
Jacksonville State -- W, 79-74
Morehead State at Central Michigan -- L, 87-76
Illinois-Chicago at
Murray State -- W, 72-68
Samford at Ohio (TV - ESPN 360) -- L, 64-52
Southeast Missouri at UC Riverside -- L, 69-61
Tennessee State at Ball State -- W, 70-69
Tennessee Tech at Bradley -- L, 77-62
UT Martin at Evansville -- W, 69-62
2007
Austin Peay at Akron (TV - ESPNU) -- L, 74-57
Eastern Illinois at Loyola (Chicago) -- L, 66-43
Eastern Kentucky at Youngstown State -- L, 66-61
Jacksonville State at Chattanooga -- L, 75-64
Bowling Green at
Morehead State -- L, 90-72
Murray State at Rider -- W, 58-51
Evansville at
Samford -- L, 69-65
Louisiana Tech at
Southeast Missouri -- L, 72-56
Loyola College (Md.) at
Tennessee State -- L, 62-60
Northwestern State at
Tennessee Tech -- W, 85-84 (OT)
Saint Peter's at
UT Martin -- W, 59-58
2008
Georgia Southern
at Austin Peay -- W, 80-72
Evansville
at Eastern Illinois -- L, 63-55
Ball State
at Eastern Kentucky -- W, 51-48
Georgia State
at Jacksonville State -- L, 85-78
Indiana State
at Murray State -- L, 79-62
Morehead State at James Madison -- L, 89-57
Samford at Louisiana Tech -- W, 73-70
Southeast Missouri at Eastern Michigan -- L, 86-82
Tennessee State at Northern Illinois -- cancelled
Tennessee Tech at East Tennessee State -- L, 88-80
UT Martin at Elon -- W, 81-77
2009
Austin Peay at Drake -- L, 71-54
Eastern Illinois at Western Michigan -- W, 59-57
Ohio
at Eastern Kentucky -- W, 73-51
Jacksonville State at Georgia Southern -- L, 66-63
Morehead State at Kent State -- L, 79-76
Louisiana Tech
at Murray State -- L, 69-60
Northern Illinois
at Southeast Missouri -- L, 97-73
Detroit
at Tennessee State -- W, 78-75
Tennessee Tech at Ball State -- L, 59-55
Missouri State
at UT Martin -- L, 79-77
2010
Oral Roberts
at Austin Peay -- L, 89-80
Northern Illinois
at Eastern Illinois -- W, 73-70
Winthrop
at Eastern Kentucky -- W, 77-57
Presbyterian
at Jacksonville State -- L, 59-55
Morehead State at Illinois State -- L, 71-62
Morgan State
at Murray State (TV - ESPNU) -- W, 75-66
Southeast Missouri at Miami (Ohio) -- L, 69-53
SIUE at Cal State Fullerton -- L, 78-74
Tennessee State at Central Michigan -- L, 79-73
Tennessee Tech at Appalachian State -- L, 81-68
UT Martin at Ball State -- L, 68-52
2011
Austin Peay at Fairfield (TV - ESPNU) -- L, 76-69
Eastern Illinois at Toledo -- W, 75-58
Eastern Kentucky at Western Carolina -- L, 81-74
Jacksonville State at Eastern Michigan -- L, 63-60
Morehead State at Indiana State -- W, 71-65
Evansville
at Murray State -- W, 72-47
Sacramento State
at Southeast Missouri -- W, 67-52
Delaware State
at Tennessee State -- W, 78-63
Gardner-Webb
at Tennessee Tech -- W, 60-58
Bradley
at UT Martin -- L, 81-75
2012
Youngstown State
at Austin Peay – W, 71-68
Illinois-Chicago
at Eastern Illinois – L, 67-63
IPFW
at Eastern Kentucky – W, 78-69
Presbyterian
at Jacksonville State – W, 67-48
Morehead State at Bowling Green – L, 73-60
Saint Mary's
at Murray State (TV - ESPN) – W, 65-51
Southeast Missouri at McNeese State – L, 74-61
Northern Illinois
at SIUE – W, 64-62
Tennessee State at Miami (Ohio) – W, 68-61
Tennessee Tech at Coastal Carolina – W, 77-71
UT Martin at Southeastern Louisiana – L, 64-48
2013
Austin Peay at Liberty
Ohio at
Belmont (TV – ESPN2)
Eastern Illinois at Northern Illinois
Eastern Kentucky at Valparaiso (TV - ESPNU)
Jacksonville State at UNC Asheville
Morehead State at Oakland
South Dakota State at
Murray State (TV – ESPN2)
Ball State at
Southeast Missouri
SIUE at Central Arkansas
Loyola (Md.) at
Tennessee State
UMKC at
Tennessee Tech
Longwood at
UT Martin