Bracket Busters Announced

The televised slate for O'Reilly/ESPNU's Bracket Busters was announced last night. Here's a link to the full schedule: [O'Reilly Auto Parts ESPNU Bracket Busters]. The games will be televised February 22-24 on the ESPN networks.

Let's dive into the highlights.

Best Games

Drake (20-1, Missouri Valley) at Butler (19-2, Horizon): This will be exactly the test Drake needs going into the tournament. They started playing conference games before New Year, and could stand to be tested by a road game at last year's breakthrough mid.

Davidson (15-6, SoCon) at Winthrop (14-8, Big South): On the face of it, this doesn't look so hot. Winthrop is not the same team they were last year when they upset Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament. But the game is on their home turf, and the Wildcats have grown fat and happy (13-0) on conference foes since taking a repeated face-punching in the non-con.

Virginia Commonwealth (16-5, CAA) at Akron (16-5, MAC): Identical overall records, both battling in tough conferences. The Zips share the MAC lead with three other 6-2 teams, and VCU holds a one-game lead on George Mason and William & Mary in the CAA. These teams are well-suited to one another, and something's gotta give. Could go to OT.

Stacked Deck

Kent State (17-5, MAC) at Saint Mary's (19-3, WCC): Kent State is a good team, but St. Mary's is too good for them. Not to mention that the Gaels get to play on their home floor, the dimly-lit McKeon Pavilion court where their epic OT win over Gonzaga just played out. A win would be a real step toward a tourney bid for the Flashes.

Sleepers

Siena (14-8, MAAC) at Boise State (16-5, WAC)
George Mason (16-6, CAA) at Ohio (15-6, MAC)
Wright State (15-6, Horizon) at Illinois State (16-6, MVC)

Could Have Been on TV

Niagara (13-7, MAAC) at Appalachian State (14-7, SoCon)

We'll get more of a picture of what these matchups mean as the next couple of weeks of conference play hash some things out, and then revisit them the week of the mini-tourney.