Feb. 4, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
In a battle of two teams that have never played on the hardwood, Illinois State's men's basketball team will host Wright State on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena on February 24 as part of the 2008 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters series, as officially announced on Monday. The game will be a live broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. Tip-off time and specific telecast assignments will be announced on Monday, Feb. 11. ISU will return the trip next season.
ESPN2 will televise six ESPNU BracketBusters contests, ESPNU will televise five, ESPN360.com, ESPN's customized broadband service, will offer coverage of two and for the first time, ESPN Classic will televise one. Game times and network assignments for the 14 matchups will all be announced on Feb. 11. The 28 ESPNU BracketBusters teams were selected from a pool of 100 schools. This year's event will mark the first time games will be televised over three days. The event began televising games over two days in 2006, while the first three years featured every game on a Saturday.
Entering Tuesday night's action, Illinois State carries a 16-6 record on the season and is 8-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Redbirds are also ranked No. 47 by RPIRatings.com. Wright State is 14-6 on the year, including a 7-4 mark in the Horizon League, and currently holds a 61 RPI rating.
The Raiders captured the Horizon League tournament title last season, garnering a No. 14 seed into the NCAA Tournament. WSU dropped a 79-58 decision to third-seeded Pittsburgh in the first round. The Raiders have been on a hot streak as of late, winning five-consecutive Horizon League contests. WSU hosts Presbyterian Monday tonight.
The BracketBusters series has proven to be a successful venture for the Redbirds over the previous five years. ISU boasts a 4-1 record in BracketBusters series matchups, while also posting a perfect 4-0 mark in the return games. This year's national telecast marks the third time in the Redbirds' history that their BracketBusters contest has been televised on the ESPN family of networks.
The ESPNU BracketBusters concept provides participating programs with an opportunity to play top non-conference opponents approximately three weeks prior to "Selection Sunday." Each league selected their participating teams prior to the season and the matchups for the event were determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences.
