Bracketbuster Projections

[Jet915]

Haha, Andy Katz really doesn't like the shox. He must have been annoyed after they hijaked his online talk a couple days ago, here are his final predictions:

1. The BracketBusters pairings will be unveiled at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU Monday night. I have no idea what they will be but I’m on the show to discuss the Feb. 17-19 event. I’ve bounced around plenty of pairings and here are my top four: Saint Mary's at Creighton; Long Beach State at Murray State; Wichita State at George Mason; Drexel at Iona; Akron at Loyola (Md.); Nevada at Oral Roberts; Valparaiso at VCU.

George Mason? 101 RPI? Wow, talk about an RPI killer win or lose.

[MSUDuo]

Nevada has to be going to South Dakota State so that should open up ORU to keep the Shox "local"

Has there ever been a repeat of teams? Is it against their "rules"? Asking in regards to MSU/Valpo

[TNMSUFAN]

Nevada has to be going to South Dakota State so that should open up ORU to keep the Shox "local"

Has there ever been a repeat of teams? Is it against their "rules"? Adding in regards to MSU/Valpo

Doubt they would do that because Valpo would have to come to JQH Arena 2 years in a row since they are on the schedule for next year

[MSUDuo]

Nevada has to be going to South Dakota State so that should open up ORU to keep the Shox "local"

Has there ever been a repeat of teams? Is it against their "rules"? Adding in regards to MSU/Valpo

Doubt they would do that because Valpo would have to come to JQH Arena 2 years in a row since they are on the schedule for next year

That's why I was asking and if we're not a TV game, I'm sure Lusk is trying to avoid that.

I hope we don't get Lamar but I don't see how we avoid them. Not enough western teams...I'm curious to know what the make up of their team is, how much do they return over the next few years... Having Knight as their coach won't hurt things in recruiting

[BirdmanBB]

http://www.vcuramnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7889

According to this RPI's match up for....

1.Creighton vs. St. Mary's
2.Murray St. vs. Wichita St.
4.Iona vs. Northern Iowa
8.Ohio vs. Drake
9.Missouri St. vs. Buffalo
11.VCU vs. Indiana St.
19.Illinois St. vs. Western Mich (we played them last year so I bet we get Oakland or ODU)
29.Evansville vs. UTSA
37.Bradley vs. Eastern Wash.
41.Ball St. vs. Southern Illinois

Indiana St. in the 11th matchup qualifies for a TV game if they go that route getting 6 MVC teams in TV games. This should be interesting to see how it plays out.

[Red]

This is better as it doesn't go straight RPI:

MVC BB games - wp/2012/01/29/final-2012-sears-espn-bracket-buster-projections/

[DoubleJayAlum]

Has there ever been a repeat of teams? Is it against their "rules"? Asking in regards to MSU/Valpo

Yes, Creighton has played Fresno St more than once.

[Red]

We're not getting a great game but I would be pleased if it was someone with a decent name simply to help us when we have to go back there in the next couple years.

[KingTut]

Does Doug Elgin have any pull in this? With him being so heavily involved in the creation of the event, you'd hope he'd have some sway to prevent our teams from getting hosed.

Also, Drake is apparently getting a TV game, per a tweet from Mark Phelps.

@CoachMarkPhelps
Just received official notification that our road Bracket Buster game will be an ESPN family of networks telecast! Excited for our team!

[MSUDuo]

I've seen "leaks" that has Drake going to VCU