Bracketbuster

[agibson]

Interesting to see the Sagarins, for sure.

With the UIC loss the Horizon League sorting seems more sensible.

Just three games involving Bracketbuster games left, only one (Northwestern State) with a team in the top-18, and even that's not likely to shake things up too much.

Ohio seems like as good a guess as any for a VU opponent.

And, here's the table in the format that was kicking around in the last days.

Home Teams
1  Belmont #19 17-4 (beat Tennessee Tech #270), 9-0 1st in the #16 Ohio Valley
2  Wichita State #26 19-4 (lost to Northern Iowa #109), 8-3, second in the #9 other valley, #15/#14 nationally
3  Indiana State #52 13-8 (lost at Drake #147), 7-4, third in the MVC
4  Akron #53 16-4 (beat Ohio #97), 8-0 in MidAmEast (MAC is #17 overall)
5  St Mary's #59 18-4 (beat Portland #228), 8-1 for second in the #10 WCC, RV nationally
6  Western Michigan #87 13-7 (beat Buffalo #292), 6-2 for first in the MAC west
7  Valpo #93 16-6, 7-2 for 1st in the #12 Horizon (0.0004 above Northern Iowa)
8 Northern Iowa #94 11-11 (beat Wichita State) 5-6, tied for 5th in Valley
9 Tennessee State #97 11-10, 7-3, t2 in the Ohio Valley (with Eastern Kentucky)
10 Oral Roberts #103 13-8 (beat Southeastern Louisiana #216), 9-1 for t1 in the #24 Southland with Stephen F. Austin
11 Long Beach State #109 11-8 (beat Cal Poly #200), 9-1 for 1st in the #19 Big West
12 Niagara #112 14-9 (lost to Loyola-MD), 10-2 for 1st in the #15 MAAC   
13 Vermont #112 14-7 (done until pairings)
14 Davidson #114 14-7 (beat Wofford #259)
15 Murray State #115 14-5 (beat Austin Peay #341)   
16 UIC #121 13-9 (lost to Cleveland State #211), 5-5 for 6th in the Horizon; UIC Already Played Iona this year (and beat them)
17 Utah State #123 15-5 (beat Seattle University #283)
18 Western Illinois #133 15-5 (done until pairings), 9-2 three-way tie for #18 Summit 1st
drake 136
fairfield 143
oakland 148

Now, the Away Teams
1 Creighton  #30 20-3 (Beat Bradley #161) 9-2, first in the Valley
2 North Dakota State #65 16-5 (Home to South Dakota #237)  9-2 three-way tie for #18 Summit 1st
3 South Dakota State #66 15-6 (beat UMKC #273)  9-2 three-way tie for #18 Summit 1st
4 Detroit #72 13-8 Done until Pairings
5 Stephen F Austin #80 14-2 (beat Lamar #322)  9-1, Tied with Oral Roberts for lead in Southland
6 Eastern Kentucky #81 16-6 (beat Southeast Missouri State #241)  7-3 in OVC-East, tied for 2nd place
7 Ohio #90 15-6 (lost at Akron #67)  6-1 in MidAmEast; Akron is 8-0 in MidAmEast
8 Iona #96 14-9 (lost at Canisius #115)  Gaels are 8-4 in conference 3-way tie for 2nd place
9 Loyola (MD) #101 16-18 (beat Niagara) 3-way tie for 2nd in MAAC
10 Northwestern State #106 9-6 (Sunday @ McNeese State #242)
11 Denver #108 13-8 (beat Texas State #268)  9-2, 2nd place in Western Athletic Conf
12 Canisius #110 15-8 (beat Iona #96), 3 way tie for 2nd in MAAC
13 Pacific #114 11-8 (beat UC Davis #248)  7-2, 2nd place in Big West behing LBState
14 Montana #118 14-4 (beat Eastern Washington #325)
15 Savannah State #123 10-9 (done until pairings)
16 Evansville #128 12-10 (lost to Missouri State #213)  6-5, 4th place in Missouri Valley
17 Weber State #135 13-5 (beat Northern Colorado #321)
18 Jacksonville State #145 13-7
Illinois State #146 13-10 (done until pairings)

[vu72]

OK, here's my final prediction for the 8 TV games (on EPSN2 and U) The ESPN3 games are just internet and not nearly as important from a publicity standpoint.

Belmont--Creighton

Wichita State--Detroit

St. Mary's--Denver

Akron--North Dakota State

Northern Iowa--South Dakota State

Valpo--Ohio

Indiana State--Stephen F. Austin

Davidson--Iona

These make the most sense to me based on ranking, physical location and TV interest. When do we find out??

[wh]

OK, here's my final prediction for the 8 TV games (on EPSN2 and U) The ESPN3 games are just internet and not nearly as important from a publicity standpoint.

Belmont--Creighton

Wichita State--Detroit

St. Mary's--Denver

Akron--North Dakota State

Northern Iowa--South Dakota State

Valpo--Ohio

Indiana State--Stephen F. Austin

Davidson--Iona

These make the most sense to me based on ranking, physical location and TV interest. When do we find out??

5:30 p.m. Central, ESPNU

[HC]

Love your predicted matchup and tip time, especially if its the Saturday night time slot

[valpocleveland]

With this being the last year of BB, how high of a priority is RPI? The priority will be getting more people watching the game (and the return game next season). That being said St Mary's vs. Creighton seems like a game that would draw some people, as well as Wichita St vs. Ohio. I stopped predicting after Valpo.

Belmont - ND State
Wichita St - Ohio
Indiana St - Detroit
Akron - SF Austin
St Mary's - Creighton
Valpo - SD State

[agibson]

As expected, not too much changed with Sunday's games.  I've not updated all the numbers: there were lots of moves by one or two places.  I have updated them where the ordering changed (including Niagara - which was maybe just a typo on my part?).

Home Teams
1  Belmont #19 17-4 (beat Tennessee Tech #270), 9-0 1st in the #16 Ohio Valley
2  Wichita State #26 19-4 (lost to Northern Iowa #109), 8-3, second in the #9 other valley, #15/#14 nationally
3  Indiana State #52 13-8 (lost at Drake #147), 7-4, third in the MVC
4  Akron #53 16-4 (beat Ohio #97), 8-0 in MidAmEast (MAC is #17 overall)
5  St Mary's #59 18-4 (beat Portland #228), 8-1 for second in the #10 WCC, RV nationally
6  Western Michigan #91 13-7 (beat Buffalo #292), 6-2 for first in the MAC west
7  Valpo #93 16-6, 7-2 for 1st in the #12 Horizon (0.0004 above Northern Iowa)
8  Northern Iowa #94 11-11 (beat Wichita State) 5-6, tied for 5th in Valley
9  Tennessee State #97 11-10, 7-3, t2 in the Ohio Valley (with Eastern Kentucky)
10 Oral Roberts #103 13-8 (beat Southeastern Louisiana #216), 9-1 for t1 in the #24 Southland with Stephen F. Austin
11 Long Beach State #109 11-8 (beat Cal Poly #200), 9-1 for 1st in the #19 Big West
12 Vermont #112 14-7 (done until pairings)
13 Davidson #114 14-7 (beat Wofford #259)
14 Murray State #115 14-5 (beat Austin Peay #341)   
15 Niagara #117 14-9 (lost to Loyola-MD), 10-2 for 1st in the #15 MAAC   
16 UIC #121 13-9 (lost to Cleveland State #211), 5-5 for 6th in the Horizon; UIC Already Played Iona this year (and beat them)
17 Utah State #123 15-5 (beat Seattle University #283)
18 Western Illinois #133 15-5 (done until pairings), 9-2 three-way tie for #18 Summit 1st

Now, the Away Teams
1  Creighton  #30 20-3 (Beat Bradley #161) 9-2, first in the Valley
2  North Dakota State #65 16-5 (Home to South Dakota #237)  9-2 three-way tie for #18 Summit 1st
3  South Dakota State #66 15-6 (beat UMKC #273)  9-2 three-way tie for #18 Summit 1st
4  Detroit #72 13-8 Done until Pairings
5  Stephen F Austin #80 14-2 (beat Lamar #322)  9-1, Tied with Oral Roberts for lead in Southland
6  Eastern Kentucky #81 16-6 (beat Southeast Missouri State #241)  7-3 in OVC-East, tied for 2nd place
7  Ohio #90 15-6 (lost at Akron #67)  6-1 in MidAmEast; Akron is 8-0 in MidAmEast
8  Iona #96 14-9 (lost at Canisius #115)  Gaels are 8-4 in conference 3-way tie for 2nd place
9  Northwestern State #106 10-6 (beat McNeese State #242)
10 Loyola (MD) #101 16-18 (beat Niagara) 3-way tie for 2nd in MAAC
11 Denver #108 13-8 (beat Texas State #268)  9-2, 2nd place in Western Athletic Conf
12 Canisius #110 15-8 (beat Iona #96), 3 way tie for 2nd in MAAC
13 Pacific #114 11-8 (beat UC Davis #248)  7-2, 2nd place in Big West behing LBState
14 Montana #118 14-4 (beat Eastern Washington #325)
15 Savannah State #123 10-9 (done until pairings)
16 Evansville #128 12-10 (lost to Missouri State #213)  6-5, 4th place in Missouri Valley
17 Weber State #135 13-5 (beat Northern Colorado #321)
18 Jacksonville State #145 13-7

[Kyle321n]

We're 7th which should guarantee one of the 9 ESPN2/ESPNU games. I'm hopeful that we get one of the 5 ESPN2 games, as that will help raise our recruiting profile.  I'm hesitant to say our current profile is enough to warrant an ESPN2 game, but we've played on the Uno already this year, the U twice and ESPN3 (which doesn't mean much really) four times. We're scheduled for 2 more appearances on the deuce and one more on the U. Clearly ESPN wants us on their networks, I think they'll bump us up to play a higher profile game on ESPN2 and Ohio would be a good match up of Midwestern schools.

[HC]

Horizon is getting 2 TV games so I'd say its safe to assume Valpo will get one.

[valpotx]

Horizon is getting 2 TV games so I'd say its safe to assume Valpo will get one.

He gets this from the HL website update for today:

On the Horizon
BracketBusters:One of the founding conferences of the Ramada BracketBusters, the Horizon League placed all nine of its teams in the event.

Two teams were selected for ESPN telecasts, with the opponents to be announced at 6:30 p.m. EST on the ESPNU Selection Show.

The seven other matchups will be released at 7 p.m. EST, following the conclusion of the selection show.

Balance: With five teams sitting within 2 games of each other in the League standings, the Horizon League continues to display remarkable balance.

Eyes will be focused on the Resch Center this weekend, where third-place Green Bay hosts a Wright State squad that sits a half-game behind the Phoenix in the League standings. On Saturday, second-place Detroit visits Green Bay in the Horizon League Network Game of the Week.

The 2010-11 Horizon League regular season featured the first three-way tie for first place in the conference's history, while last year featured a three-way tie for third place.

More of the same could be in store this year, as Valparaiso holds a half-game lead on Detroit, with Green Bay sitting in third, one-half game ahead of Wright State and Youngstown State.

[Kyle321n]

Horizon is getting 2 TV games so I'd say its safe to assume Valpo will get one.

He gets this from the HL website update for today: On the Horizon BracketBusters:One of the founding conferences of the Ramada BracketBusters, the Horizon League placed all nine of its teams in the event. Two teams were selected for ESPN telecasts, with the opponents to be announced at 6:30 p.m. EST on the ESPNU Selection Show. The seven other matchups will be released at 7 p.m. EST, following the conclusion of the selection show. Balance: With five teams sitting within 2 games of each other in the League standings, the Horizon League continues to display remarkable balance. Eyes will be focused on the Resch Center this weekend, where third-place Green Bay hosts a Wright State squad that sits a half-game behind the Phoenix in the League standings. On Saturday, second-place Detroit visits Green Bay in the Horizon League Network Game of the Week. The 2010-11 Horizon League regular season featured the first three-way tie for first place in the conference's history, while last year featured a three-way tie for third place. More of the same could be in store this year, as Valparaiso holds a half-game lead on Detroit, with Green Bay sitting in third, one-half game ahead of Wright State and Youngstown State.

Valpo and Detroit playing back to back on ESPN2 would set up a nice "Hey you saw these two play last weekend on ESPN2, now watch them play 2 of the better midmajors from other conferences". Valpo-Ohio and Detroit-Akron would set up a nice Horizon vs MAC battle too.

[valpotx]

Eastern Kentucky at Valpo announced on ESPNU!!  Detroit at Wichita State on ESPN/ESPN2

[agibson]

Wichita State!  ESPN/ESPN2! A coup for Detroit!  A snub for the Summit... also a snub for VU?  Or mostly for the Summit?

Eastern Kentucky's a step up in RPI, at least.  And maybe a good OVC team's a change of pace from another MAC team.

But, ESPNU, man!  The blackout!  The pain!

[valpotx]

Bryce gets to speak on the show soon too

[vuweathernerd]

i was hoping they'd find a matchup against a dakota school, for the sole purpose of getting to the return game. but eku still isn't a bad draw.

[HC]

I'm bummed its such an early start, but a good opponent.

[vu72]

Terrible opponent, which shows us no respect.  They are ranked third in the OVC by Sagarin and no. 165. This won't help us seeding wise, in the slightest and now is a must win.  At least the return game won't be to California or some such place.

BTW, I got 2 of 8 matchups right!  Batting .250

[talksalot]

Saturday, Feb. 23:
Hot off the HL website:

Eastern Kentucky at Valparaiso, 1 p.m. ET -- ESPNU
Detroit at Wichita State, 4 p.m. ET -- ESPN/ESPN2
Cleveland State at Western Illinois
Milwaukee at IUPUI
Green Bay at Drake
Bradley at UIC
Kent State at Loyola
Evansville at Wright State
Central Michigan at Youngstown State

[sliman]

I share the disappointment that we're playing on ESPNU rather than one of the two more widely viewed networks, but think Eastern Kentucky will make a good two-year opponent.  Perhaps Detroit got the marque game at Wichita because ESPN figures they're the best team in the HL or perhaps its because they view a team from Detroit pulling better ratings than one from Valparaiso, IN.  Really not much of a surprise that Creighton, Wichita State and Murray State have the choice times on the best available network since they've been in the national media more than other teams in recent years.  At least our starting time is better than Indiana State's.

[talksalot]

The Colonels are 17-6, just like we are. They are in second place in their division of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Statistically:
They are 70th in Points per game (72), 344th in Rebounds per game (26), 70th in Assists, and 33rd in shooting percentage. EKU's RPI is 83

Valpo is 113th in points per game (70), 208th in Rebounds per game (34), 138th in Assists per game and 41st in shooting percentage. Valpo's RPI is 93

The tipping point for this game? The ValparaiZone Student Cheering Section!

[talksalot]

So over the past 2 weeks a lot of discussion about which is a better estimator... I know it's entirely moot now that the bbuster is going away... but here's a comparison of the 13 tv matchups...

Sagarins #1's matchup and #2s Match up... But they had 5 teams in their respective top 13 that did not get a tv game.

Nolan's RPI only had one perfect alignment, #12s Vermont and Canisius, only three teams in their top 13 not get a tv game.

                                                           RPI           Sagarin
North Dakota State at Akron                        2 at a 4           3 at a 4
Stephen F. Austin at Long Beach State        5 at an 11   6 at a 12
Iona at Indiana State                                8 and a 3   9 at a 7
Eastern Kentucky at Valparaiso                6 at a 7    20 at a 6
Canisius at Vermont                               12 at a 12   14 at a 15
Pacific at Western Michigan                       13 at a 6   16 at an 11
Montana at Davidson                               14 at a 13   15 at an 8
Northwestern State at Niagara               10 at a 15   18 at a 17
Detroit at Wichita State                         4 at a 2   2 at a 2
No. 16 Creighton at Saint Mary's (Calif.)         1 at a 5   1 and 1
South Dakota State at Murray State         3 at a 14   8 at a 9
Denver at Northern Iowa                        11 at an 8   5 at a 5
Ohio at Belmont                                         7 at a 1   4 at a 3

The losers in the "tv" contest?

According to Nolan's RPI:
#8 Home Team Tennessee State
#10 Home Team Oral Roberts
#8 Visiting Team, Loyola MD

According to Sagarin
#10 Home Team, Utah State
#7 Visiting Team Illinois State
#10 Weber State
#11 Evansville
#12 Green Bay

Just looking at the EKU stats, the have a couple of guys sharing scoring honors, one from a south suburb of Chicago... might get a following!

[valpo84]

The biggest issue for the BB this year was not enough quality away teams. Detroit is an away team and a good one so they get a good matchup. Akron, according to Katz'article, tried to get ESPN to move them to an away team during the past week in an effort to get a better game. We have an espnu national broadcast at 1 est, which is a good slot as espn and espn 2 games are usually dogs at that time. Plus, I have a wedding that day and asked to keep it early, Valpo grads getting married so we need a good warm up.

[EddieCabot]

Terrible opponent, which shows us no respect.  They are ranked third in the OVC by Sagarin and no. 165. This won't help us seeding wise, in the slightest and now is a must win. 

Totally agree with this.  EKU looks like a third or fourth place team in the OVC ... matching them up against the Horizon leader is ridiculous.  EKU has a respectable RPI because they played (and lost to) a few highly rated teams and have beaten up on a bunch of chumps. 

A simple breakdown of their 16 wins gives you a glimpse of who they really are ... 1 win over top 100 RPI teams, 6 wins over 101-200 teams and a whopping 9 wins against 201+ teams.  That isn't strong at all.

Not sure why ESPN would do this to Valpo, but not much you can do other than beat them handily and prove a point.

[bbtds]

Illinois State is 12-10, but 3-7 in the MVC.  They will NOT be placed against the HL leader, regardless of RPI

I keep hearing these statements about how ESPN would never do this or that with certain teams in the bracketbuster. The truth is that ESPN is dropping the bracketbuster because they can no longer get the match-ups that they truly want. So many good teams are dropping out of the bracketbuster that it has become particularly hard to match teams that are equivalent in rank. This is the last year of the bracketbuster and Valpo may not get the opponent they want so we'll have to make the best of it and win the added game to our schedule.

Again, Valpo doesn't get the opponent it wants so the Crusaders will have to make the best of it and win this added game to their schedule.

[bbtds]

http://www.ekusports.com/news/2013/2/4/MBBALL_0204132604.aspx

Story on their(EKU)  bracketbuster match-up with Valpo.

[wh]

Illinois State is 12-10, but 3-7 in the MVC.  They will NOT be placed against the HL leader, regardless of RPI

I keep hearing these statements about how ESPN would never do this or that with certain teams in the bracketbuster. The truth is that ESPN is dropping the bracketbuster because they can no longer get the match-ups that they truly want. So many good teams are dropping out of the bracketbuster that it has become particularly hard to match teams that are equivalent in rank. This is the last year of the bracketbuster and Valpo may not get the opponent they want so we'll have to make the best of it and win the added game to our schedule.

Again, Valpo doesn't get the opponent it wants so the Crusaders will have to make the best of it and win this added game to their schedule.

Everything changed after the YSU loss last week, so we get who we get.