Ding dong, Bracket Buster is dead

[BCPanther]

The UNI-Indiana State game on Saturday has huge BracketBuster implications...

I'm not sure there is such a thing. Both teams are going to get pretty much garbage opponents no matter what.

Big difference between garbage that finishes 99 in the RPI and garbage that finishes 125.

[Red]

The UNI-Indiana State game on Saturday has huge BracketBuster implications...

I'm not sure there is such a thing. Both teams are going to get pretty much garbage opponents no matter what.

Big difference between garbage that finishes 99 in the RPI and garbage that finishes 125.

Not really. An extra Top 100 win isn't getting either of our teams into the NCAA tournament.

[isumvc1]

I'm not sure there is such a thing. Both teams are going to get pretty much garbage opponents no matter what.[/quote]

Big difference between garbage that finishes 99 in the RPI and garbage that finishes 125.[/quote]
Not really. An extra Top 100 win isn't getting either of our teams into the NCAA tournament.[/quote]

This x 2, neither ISU or UNI get into the NCAA without an MVC championship in St. Louis

[TheAsianSensation]

ISU staying in the top 50 is important - for their opponent. Same thing with UNI, only top 100 doesn't matter as much. But for lower conferences, any top 100 game has value to them.

[ST_Lawson]

13) Bradley at Western Illinois -

I'd travel to Macomb to watch Bradley play against Coach Mo. I assume the first team to 40 would win.

We'd love to have you. Personally I'd love to see us play each other on a more regular basis, but I know that up until recently, we've been a SOS killer for the teams that play us. With as well as Western is playing and as close as Peoria is, I could see attendance for that game beating what we had for our game against Indiana back in '05 when we had just over 5k. We've had ~4k for two home games now (I realize that's peanuts for most of you guys, but that's pretty good for us), so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

[TheAsianSensation]

I may owe an apology to UNI. A couple more wins to make the overall record more tenable....and that RPI will probably be good enough for a TV game somewhere.

[unipanther99]

13) Bradley at Western Illinois -

I'd travel to Macomb to watch Bradley play against Coach Mo. I assume the first team to 40 would win.

We'd love to have you. Personally I'd love to see us play each other on a more regular basis, but I know that up until recently, we've been a SOS killer for the teams that play us. With as well as Western is playing and as close as Peoria is, I could see attendance for that game beating what we had for our game against Indiana back in '05 when we had just over 5k. We've had ~4k for two home games now (I realize that's peanuts for most of you guys, but that's pretty good for us), so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Sadly, there are nights UNI would kill for 4K. It's good to see the Leathernecks competing. Valley schools like UNI, Bradley, Illinois State, and Drake should consider playing WIU in Moline to appeal to their Quad Cities fans.

[KingTut]

When are matchups announced? Bracketbuster site says this coming Monday, Jan. 28. Various media types say it's the following Monday, Feb. 4.

I seem to remember the official bracketbuster site having bad or not up to date information pretty much every year.

[ST_Lawson]

Sadly, there are nights UNI would kill for 4K. It's good to see the Leathernecks competing. Valley schools like UNI, Bradley, Illinois State, and Drake should consider playing WIU in Moline to appeal to their Quad Cities fans.

For a few years back in the late '90s we'd play Iowa in Moline at The Mark (now the i Wireless Center) early in the season. It was a great atmosphere, lots of fans, both pep bands. We've got a campus in the Quad Cities, so there's a lot of our fans and alumni up in that area. I'd love to see WIU and UNI play there on a semi-regular basis as well. It's about halfway between the two schools and there's a lot of history between us, both in the original incarnation of the Summit League (UNI was in the Mid-Continent Conference with Western from '82-'91) as well as our annual matchups in football.

Anyway, back to Bracket Buster discussion:
It looks like it's very likely that we (Western) may host a MVC school for this year. Based on current RPI, probably Bradley or Illinois State. I don't know that ESPN would want to try to get a TV crew out to Macomb, so I think it's unlikely at this point that it'd be a TV game (unless they're looking to get more MVC on ESPN3).

[isumvc1]

S Dakta St wins the "play in" game for the right to face WSU in bracket busters.

OR, WSU could still get Stephen F. Austin as well.