Ball State University Athletics
Cardinals Draw Eastern Kentucky In BracketBusters
February 05, 2008 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball team will travel to Eastern Kentucky for the 2008 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. The game is slated for Saturday, Feb. 23 with a time to be announced.
The two teams have met four times previously with EKU posting a 4-0 record. The 2008 tilt will be the first between the two teams since the 1979-80 season.
MAC men's basketball teams Akron, Kent State, Miami and Ohio have been chosen to participate in nationally televised games as part of the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters on Saturday, February 23. The 14 televised match-ups were announced by ESPN on Monday night. Game times and the specific ESPN platform (ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN 360) will be determined and announced by ESPN in the near future.
In televised contests involving MAC teams, Akron hosts 2007 NCAA Tournament participant and Colonial Athletic Association leader Virginia Commonwealth (16-5, 9-2 CAA). Kent State will travel to Moraga, Calif. to take on a West Coast Conference opponent in St. Mary's (18-3, 5-1 WCC). Ohio will entertain a Colonial Athletic Association program in George Mason (16-6, 8-3 CAA), while Miami will travel to Valparaiso, Ind. to take on the Horizon League's Valparaiso Crusaders (14-7, 5-4 Horizon).
“We are thrilled with the match-ups and pleased with the respect the Mid-American Conference garnered from both conference commissioners and the team at ESPN.” said Associate Commissioner for men's basketball Rick Boyages.
A charter member of the BracketBusters event (sixth season), the Mid-American Conference is one of only two conferences that has seen one of it's participating teams reach the Regional Final (Kent State in 2002; George Mason reached Final Four in 2006). Last year, four Mid-American Conference teams were featured in ESPN BracketBusters-branded games (contests aired on the TV package). Kent State defeated George Mason on ESPN360, while Akron took down Austin Peay on ESPNU. Ohio and Toledo were also featured in ESPN telecasts last season.
Teams from the Mid-American Conference have posted a 10-12 record in ESPNU BracketBusters television games and a 51-53 record in non-televised BracketBusters contests and return games.
2008 Television/Non-Television O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters Matchups
*Kent State at St. Mary's (Ca.)
*Virginia Commonwealth at Akron
*Miami at Valparaiso
*George Mason at Ohio
Ball State at Eastern Kentucky
Bowling Green at Detroit
Youngstown State at Buffalo
Central Michigan at Missouri State
Southeast Missouri State at Eastern Michigan
Tennessee State at Northern Illinois
Delaware at Toledo
Western Michigan at UW-Green Bay
