ESPN, Inc. has reached a multi-year agreement with several top college basketball conferences and programs to present Bracket Buster Saturday, a new one-day, nine-game men's basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. Bracket Buster Saturday will be played annually beginning with the inaugural event February 22, 2003. ESPN and ESPN2 will present five live games and the remaining four games will be produced and distributed in the markets of the competing teams. 

The Bracket Buster Saturday concept, named because of the success of these teams in NCAA Tournament play over the past few years will provide participating teams with an opportunity to play top non-conference opponents three weeks prior to Selection Sunday. 

In all, a total of 18 teams will compete in the nine-game, one-day event. The Missouri Valley Conference (Creighton, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois) has four schools in the mix, joining teams from the Mid-American Conference (Ball State, Bowling Green State, Kent State and Marshall), Horizon League (Illinois-Chicago, Detroit Mercy and Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Western Athletic Conference (Fresno State, Hawai’i, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa), West Coast Conference (Gonzaga), Sun Belt Conference (Western Kentucky) and Big West Conference (California-Santa Barbara).

Of the 18 competing teams selected for 2003, 14 participated in postseason play last year, including nine in the NCAA Tournament. The field of teams in the 2003 “Bracket Buster Saturday” series represents six Sweet Sixteen squads and three regional finalists from the last four NCAA Tournaments. Gonzaga (1999), Tulsa (2000) and Kent State (2002) have advanced to an Elite Eight game in the NCAA Tournament in one of the last four seasons. In all, the 2003 “Bracket Buster Saturday” field boasts a total of 25 team appearances in the last four NCAA Tournaments.

From the Missouri Valley Conference, both Creighton and Southern Illinois posted first-round victories in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, with the Salukis becoming the fourth league school to advance to the round of Sweet Sixteen in the last nine seasons. Illinois State advanced to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 1997 and 1998, and in 1998, knocked off eighth-seeded Tennessee in the first round.

One of the nine games has been determined -- Tulsa at Gonzaga on ESPN -- but the remaining eight matchups will not be announced until February 3, 2003. 

Featured Teams

Collective NCAA Tournament (1999-2002) Achievements for Bracket Buster Saturday Teams  25 NCAA tournament appearances  3 NCAA Elight Eight appearances (Gonzaga, 1999; Tulsa, 2000; Kent State, 2002)  6 NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances  22 NCAA tournament wins in the past four years  21 NCAA wins vs. higher-seeded, favored teams  2 Additional teams from participating leagues made Sweet Sixteen appearances:  Southwest Missouri State (Missouri Valley) and Miami, Ohio (Mid-American) in 1999  Wins in NCAA Tournament Play by Bracket Buster Series Teams (1999-2002)  1999  Detroit beat UCLA  Tulsa beat College of Charleston  Creighton beat Louisville  Gonzaga beat Minnesota, Stanford and Florida  2000  Gonzaga beat Louisville and St. John's  Tulsa beat UNLV, Cincinnati and Miami (Fla.)  2001  Fresno State beat California  Kent State beat Indiana  Gonzaga beat Virginia and Indiana State  2002  Creighton beat Florida  Tulsa beat Marquette  Southern Illinois beat Texas Tech and Georgia  Kent State beat Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh  Bracket Buster Saturday Players on All-American Watch List or Conference Player of the Year  Carl English, 6-5 junior guard/forward, Hawaii  Chris Marcus, 7-1 senior center, Western Kentucky  Theron Smith, 6-8 senior forward, Ball St.  Cory Violette, 6-8 junior forward/center, Gonzaga  Kyle Korver, 6-7 junior guard, Creighton (MVC Player of the Year)

Bracket Buster Series Teams Ranked by 2001-02 Overall Victories 

School	Conference	Postseason	W-L	RPI
Kent State	Mid-American	NCAA Elite Eight	30-6	16
Gonzaga	West Coast	NCAA	29-4	28
Western Kentucky	Sun Belt	NCAA	28-4	33
Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	NCAA Sweet 16	28-8	41
Hawaii	Western Athletic	NCAA	27-6	32
Tulsa	Western Athletic	NCAA 2nd Round	27-7	34
Bowling Green	Mid-American	NIT	24-9	64
Creighton	Missouri Valley	NCAA 2nd Round	23-9	44
Ball State	Mid-American	NIT Quarterfinals	23-12	68
Louisiana Tech	Western Athletic	NIT 2nd Round	22-10	69
UC Santa Barbara	Big West	NCAA	20-11	90
Illinois-Chicago	Horizon	NCAA	20-14	123
Fresno State	Western Athletic	NIT	19-15	73
Detroit	Horizon	NIT	18-13	91
Illinois State	Missouri Valley		17-14	96
UW-Milwaukee	Horizon		16-13	158
Marshall	Mid-American		15-15	165
Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley		14-15	169

Home Teams (Conference affiliation)       Creighton (Missouri Valley)  Gonzaga (West Coast)  Illinois-Chicago (Horizon)  Kent State (Mid-American) Marshall (Mid-American) Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) Western Kentucky (Sun Belt) UC Santa Barbara (Big West)  Louisiana Tech (Western Athletic)

Visiting Teams (Conference affiliation)   Ball State (Mid-American)  Bowling Green (Mid-American)  Detroit (Horizon)  Hawaii (Western Athletic)  Illinois State (Missouri Valley)  Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley)  Tulsa (Western Athletic)  Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon)  Fresno (Western Athletic)

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