United Athletic Conference

The fourth annual Bracket Buster Saturday event, a one-day men?™s college basketball extravaganza pitting potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other on February 18, will feature 11 nationally televised games selected from an expanded pool of 100 teams representing 18 conferences. Last year?™s field included a potential 64 teams representing 13 conferences (vying for 11 Bracket Buster Saturday games) while the 2004 event featured 46 teams (for 10 Bracket Buster Saturday games) and the inaugural event in 2003 included 18 teams (for nine Bracket Buster Saturday games).

In addition to the expanded field, this year?™s event will also feature five Bracket Buster Saturday games exclusively on ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the remaining six contests.

Bracket Buster Saturday, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play over the past few years, will provide the 22 televised teams (selected from the pool of 100 schools) an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks prior to Selection Sunday. The 78 teams not selected for Bracket Buster Saturday will compete against each other on the same day.

The 100-team field will feature nine teams from the WAC, 12 teams from the Mid-American Conference; 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference; 10 from the Missouri Valley and Metro Atlantic Athletic; nine from the Horizon League; eight from the Big West and Colonial Athletic; four from the Sun Belt and the Big Sky; three from the Big South; two from the America East, Mid-Continent, Southern, Southland and West Coast; and Bucknell from the Patriot League and Fairleigh Dickinson from the Northeast. Four new conferences join the pool this year: Big South, Northeast, Patriot and Southland. The West Coast conference returns after a one-year absence.

While each conference selects their participating teams prior to the season, the 11 matchups for Bracket Buster Saturday will be determined from the pool of 100 teams by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences approximately three weeks prior to the event (this year ?“ January 29 2006). As part of the agreement, all 11 of the Bracket Buster Saturday home teams, as well as the remaining 39 home squads, will play a "return" game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the following season.

Bracket Buster Saturday is an example of ESPN college basketball franchise programming. Others include Rivalry Week, Feast Week, Judgment Week and Championship Week.

This year?™s Bracket Buster Saturday pool features teams with 31 appearances in the last two NCAA Tournaments, including two Sweet Sixteen squads ?“ Nevada (2004) and UW-Milwaukee (2005).

Below are statistics of this year?™s Bracket Buster Saturday pool of 100-teams in NCAA Tournament play from 2001 ?“ 2005:

2005 NCAA Tournament: 18 berths ?“ Bucknell, Creighton, Eastern Kentucky, Fairleigh Dickinson, Louisiana-Lafayette, Montana, Nevada, Niagara, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Old Dominion, Pacific, Saint Mary?™s (California), Southern Illinois, Utah State, UW-Milwaukee, Winthrop and Vermont. A 7-18 overall record: Bucknell defeated Kansas; Nevada defeated Texas; Pacific defeated Pittsburgh; Southern Illinois defeated Saint Mary?™s (California); UW-Milwaukee defeated Alabama and Boston College to reach the Sweet Sixteen; and Vermont defeated Syracuse.

2004 NCAA Tournament: 13 berths ?“ Eastern Washington, Illinois-Chicago, Louisiana-Lafayette, Manhattan, Murray State, Nevada, Northern Iowa, Pacific, Southern Illinois, Valparaiso, Vermont, Virginia Commonwealth and Western Michigan. A 4-13 overall record: Manhattan defeated Florida, Nevada defeated Michigan State and Gonzaga to reach the Sweet Sixteen; and Pacific defeated Providence.

2003 NCAA Tournament: 11 berths ?“ Austin Peay, Butler, Central Michigan, Creighton, Manhattan, Southern Illinois, UNC Asheville, Utah State, Western Kentucky, UW-Milwaukee and Vermont. A 4-11 overall record: Butler defeated Mississippi State and Louisville to reach the Sweet Sixteen; Central Michigan defeated Creighton; and UNC Asheville defeated Texas Southern.

2002 NCAA Tournament: 12 berths - Creighton, Kent State, Hawai'i, Illinois-Chicago, Southern Illinois, Montana, Murray State, Siena, UC Santa Barbara, Western Kentucky, Winthrop and Valparaiso. A 7-12 overall record: Kent State defeated Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh to reach the Elite Eight; Creighton defeated Florida; Siena defeated Alcorn State; and Southern Illinois defeated Texas Tech and Georgia to reach the Sweet Sixteen.

2001 NCAA Tournament: 17 berths ?“ Butler, Creighton, Eastern Illinois, Fresno State, Hawai'i, Hofstra, Indiana State, Iona, Kent State, Cal State-Northridge, George Mason, Georgia State, Northwestern State, UNC Greensboro, Utah State, Western Kentucky and Winthrop. A 7-17 overall record: Butler defeated Wake Forest; Fresno State defeated California; Georgia State defeated Wisconsin; Indiana State defeated Oklahoma; Kent State defeated Indiana; Northwestern State at Winthrop; and Utah State defeated Ohio State.