Ding dong, Bracket Buster is dead

[Jet915]

If Creighton is getting screwed. We are all getting screwed.

We should have 6 or 7 TV games, but of course we won't.

Seriously, on paper we should get atleast 6 teams in this thing but probably end up with 4 or 5. This should be labelled "MVC vs. low major buster"

[isumvc1]

If Creighton is getting screwed. We are all getting screwed.

We should have 6 or 7 TV games, but of course we won't.

Seriously, on paper we should get atleast 6 teams in this thing but probably end up with 4 or 5. This should be labelled "MVC vs. low major buster"

or how about the "MVC NCAA buster"

[TheAsianSensation]

One final time, with emphasis, RPIs:

Home:
Belmont 19
2) Wichita St 26
3) Indiana St 52
Akron 53
St Mary's 59
Western Michigan 87
Valparaiso 93
8) Northern Iowa 94
Tennessee St 97
Oral Roberts 103
Long Beach St 109
Vermont 112
Davidson 114
Murray St 115
-theoretical 14-team TV cutoff-
Niagara 116
UIC 121
Utah St 123
Western Illinois 133
19) Drake 136
Fairfield 143
Oakland 148
Youngstown St 152
Texas-Arlington 153
Wright St 156
Charleston 157
UNC Asheville 165
Toledo 179
Rider 186
Loyola (Chi) 189
Cal Poly 202
Hawaii 205
UC Santa Barbara 207
33) Southern Illinois 220
Eastern Michigan 224
Buffalo 225
SE Missouri St 246
UC Davis 250
Winthrop 252
Tennessee Tech 256
Campbell 257
High Point 280
Northern Illinois 283
Siena 288
Texas-San Antonio 289
Tennessee-Martin 290
Marist 293
Southern Utah 297
Montana St 299
Western Carolina 300
Nebraska Omaha 303
Central Arkansas 305
IPFW 309
IUPUI 310
Lamar 316
Hampton 318
Eastern Washington 322
TAMU-CC 330
Portland St 336
Liberty 340
Idaho St 342
Presbyterian 343

Away:
1) Creighton 31
North Dakota St 66
South Dakota St 67
Detroit 73
Stephen F Austin 80
Eastern Kentucky 81
Ohio 90
Iona 96
Loyola (MD) 101
Northwestern St 106
Denver 108
Canisius 110
Pacific 113
Montana 117
-theoretical 14-team TV cutoff-
Savannah St 122
16) Evansville 127
Weber St 134
Jacksonville St 145
19) Illinois St 146
Green Bay 154
Morehead St 160
22) Bradley 161
Albany 172
Idaho 177
Charleston Southern 181
UC Irvine 185
Cleveland St 188
Kent St 192
Cal St Northridge 198
30) Missouri St 203
SE Louisiana 214
Loyola Marymount 219
South Dakota 227
Gardner-Webb 237
Sam Houston St 239
Miami (OH) 241
McNeese St 242
Central Michigan 244
Northern Arizona 249
Cal St Fullerton 251
Manhattan 259
Sacramento St 260
Nicholls St 264
UMKC 265
Coastal Carolina 268
Texas St 270
SIU-E 272
Ball St 273
Morgan St 274
North Dakota 279
St Peter's 282
Bowling Green 285
VMI 296
Eastern Illinois 298
Radford 302
Milwaukee 314
Citadel 317
Northern Colorado 321
UC Riverside 328
Austin Peay 337
Longwood 344

[TheAsianSensation]

ESPN2
1) Creighton at St Mary's - I don't like it one bit. Actually, the team with the biggest gripe here is Belmont, not Creighton. But if Katz is so sure of it, I have to operate off of that. Note that St Mary's is rallying up the RPI. Also, they're behind Gonzaga and in theory need the signature chance opportunity more than Belmont or anyone else. Whatever.
2) South Dakota St at Wichita St - Note what's happened here - SDSU has fallen to 67 in the RPI, and that's just going to continue to fade. I pray to God Stephen F Austin doesn't back into this spot.
3) Detroit at Belmont - And with this, there will be rioting in Nashville. I'm not kidding. Rioting.
4) North Dakota St at Akron - Akron, as a fringe bubble candidate, gets it own version of getting hosed by this competition.
5) Stephen F Austin at Indiana St - I'm going to throw up. Anyways, SFA is a bigtime RPI risk (they're not going to finish top 100), but as the Southland leader and the highest RPI on the board, they fall to ISU after I had to take Detroit to play Belmont because Creighton/Belmont got broken up. Note that Eastern Kentucky or Ohio could work here, but neither lead their league. SFA does.

ESPNU
6) Ohio at Valparaiso - MAC #2 vs. Horizon #1.
7) Eastern Kentucky at Western Michigan - two teams no better than 3rd best in their conferences, but with shiny RPIs. Kind of fits like a glove.
8) Montana at Long Beach St - Big Sky leaders at Big West leaders. Geography plays a role in pairing them up.
9) Denver at Oral Roberts - Another game that geographically fits well.
10) Evansville at Niagara - UE fell hard in my projections the last couple of weeks. Still, these are the MAAC leaders, so it isn't terrible.

ESPN3
11) Loyola (MD) at Vermont - MAAC contender at AEast contender.
12) Iona at Davidson - MAAC contender at SoCon leaders.
13) Pacific at Northern Iowa - I'll stick with this matchup, which means UNI has a west coast trip in 2014 against a future WCC school. I'm kind of stuck here - UNI's RPI is now good enough to get a game, but by the time you get to them, you run out of midwestern teams to pair them up with.
14) Northwestern St at Murray St - Tough call between Murray and Utah St on the end of the board here. Either works here.

TV snubs:
Away - Canisius gets a tough break - the 3 other MAAC contenders get TV. Other than that, no one can complain.
Home - Utah St bites the bullet on this one (and actually, if either BU or IlSU want to bite the bullet on big travel, this could be a very nice get at home in 2014). Western Illinois sees their co-leaders in the Summit get major TV but not them. Tennessee St does get left out with a 97 RPI, but their overall profile is much worse than you'd think.

Other MVC projections:
Green Bay at Drake - Pairing is a bit stuck here - this is about the only midwestern team anywhere near Drake's range. Not terrible though.
Illinois St at UIC - With Oakland off the board, it's down to WIU...or UIC for ISU. UIC has the same problem Drake does, actually. Given the dicey situation, I'll be a massive homer and set this up in order to get to...
Bradley at Western Illinois - But if you want to flip the last two games here, I won't argue with it. Oakland and Wright St will be factors for these teams as well.
Missouri St at Loyola (Chi) - Schools in MSU's range are basically this and some MAC schools (Toledo, EMU, Buffalo maybe). Also well in range - SE Missouri St, who should be preferably avoided.
Miami (OH) at Southern Illinois - Some other schools in range: Kent St, Cleveland St, Central Michigan. Getting Kent St in a down year could mean a quality road game in 2 years, and is my preference here.

[Jet915]

Katz actually mentioned on College Basketball Live that Akron's coach would be willing to switch from a home team to a road team if it meant a better matchup like Indiana State.....wondering if they would allow that. Part of me says no, it's the rules, the other part might be ESPN saying screw it, it's the last year of this crap and we want the best matchups.

Akron vs. Indiana State would actually be a matchup that both teams need.

[WestOmahaBluejay]

Katz actually mentioned on College Basketball Live that Akron's coach would be willing to switch from a home team to a road team if it meant a better matchup like Indiana State.....wondering if they would allow that. Part of me says no, it's the rules, the other part might be ESPN saying screw it, it's the last year of this crap and we want the best matchups.

Akron vs. Indiana State would actually be a matchup that both teams need.

I don't blame them, this "event" is a farce and at least its being scrapped after this year. The match-ups that look to take place through Bracketbusters this year will likely dramatically hurt the higher RPI teams' chances come March, rather than help anyone get into the NCAA's that is on the outside. I still cannot believe that ESPN would ship CU out to the West Coast to play a St. Mary's team that is barely inside the Top 60 in RPI, while there is a Top 20 RPI team - Belmont - that needs a key matchup to helps it own resume come Selection Sunday.

Bracketbusters had such potential, but just like most things ESPN gets involved in - they screw it up and make it almost unwatchable and pointless.

[isumvc1]

Katz actually mentioned on College Basketball Live that Akron's coach would be willing to switch from a home team to a road team if it meant a better matchup like Indiana State.....wondering if they would allow that. Part of me says no, it's the rules, the other part might be ESPN saying screw it, it's the last year of this crap and we want the best matchups.

Akron vs. Indiana State would actually be a matchup that both teams need.

I don't blame them, this "event" is a farce and at least its being scrapped after this year. The match-ups that look to take place through Bracketbusters this year will likely dramatically hurt the higher RPI teams' chances come March, rather than help anyone get into the NCAA's that is on the outside. I still cannot believe that ESPN would ship CU out to the West Coast to play a St. Mary's team that is barely inside the Top 60 in RPI, while there is a Top 20 RPI team - Belmont - that needs a key matchup to helps it own resume come Selection Sunday.

Bracketbusters had such potential, but just like most things ESPN gets involved in - they screw it up and make it almost unwatchable and pointless.

bring on the Akron Zips, we would love to play them, and it'd be an EASY return game next season!

[TheAsianSensation]

Katz actually mentioned on College Basketball Live that Akron's coach would be willing to switch from a home team to a road team if it meant a better matchup like Indiana State.....wondering if they would allow that. Part of me says no, it's the rules, the other part might be ESPN saying screw it, it's the last year of this crap and we want the best matchups.

Akron vs. Indiana State would actually be a matchup that both teams need.

They would need a road team somewhere down the road to switch to home...they probably could find one.

If Akron could switch, to do it for ISU would be the EXACT situation they're looking for. Get it done MAC.

[cpacmel]

Home - Utah St bites the bullet on this one (and actually, if either BU or IlSU want to bite the bullet on big travel, this could be a very nice get at home in 2014).

Great work TAS. Seriously, good stuff man.

In regards to Utah State, I'd love ISU to bite the bullet this year for the return game alone.

[squirrel]

First leak of a matchup involves a Valley team, and TAS nailed it:

UWGB goes to Drake
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/art ... cketBuster