The University at Albany men’s basketball team has been selected to play a nationally-televised game in the fourth annual BracketBusters presented by eBay. The Great Danes will travel to Richmond, Va. to face Colonial Athletic Association opponent Virginia Commonwealth University. The game will be aired live on an ESPN network (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN 360) with game time, date and programming information to be determined.
Six of the 13 BracketBusters presented by eBay games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2. Five other televised contests will be featured on ESPNU – ESPN’s new collegiate network that was launched on March 4, 2005 – and two games on ESPN 360 – ESPN’s broadband network.
"America East is excited to have Albany selected to the BracketBusters presented by eBay field," said Patrick Nero, Commissioner of America East. "ESPN and BracketBusters give fans around the country the chance to see one of the nation’s quality mid-major programs and to enjoy an outstanding day of college basketball."
"This is a great day for the University at Albany, its students, alumni and fans, and the Capital Region community," Albany Head Coach Will Brown said. "This is a huge step for our program to be in the BracketBusters before a national television audience and to meet Virginia Commonwealth, one of the best teams in the Colonial Athletic Association."
The 2006 BracketBusters presented by eBay will take place for the first time over two days -- Friday-Saturday, February 17-18 -- with a total pool of 100 teams representing 18 conferences in a 50-game event. In an effort to provide a greater opportunity for NCAA Tournament-caliber teams, the event has expanded its pool of teams (18 in 2003, 46 in 2004 and 64 in 2005) each year to produce a better cross section of squads for the basketball bonanza.
The event has allowed Division I conferences to participate in a cutting-edge format that involves “wild-card” pairings for the pool of participating teams, with half of the BracketBusters presented by eBay teams pre-designated as “home” and the remaining half as “road” teams.
The evaluation and pairings of teams for the ESPN television package was made by the staff of ESPN, in consultation with the commissioners of participating conferences. Consideration was given to avoid match-ups of conference teams and match-ups of any teams that have already met during the current season. Pairing decisions for the remaining games that will not be televised will be announced by Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at 11 a.m.