BRISTOL, Conn. - University of Vermont has been tabbed one of the 26 teams that will appear on national television in the annual ESPNU BracketBusters series on February 20 and 21. The Catamounts (16-6, 7-2 America East) will host Buffalo on Saturday on either ESPN2 or ESPNU in the first non-conference national TV broadcast to take place at an America East institution's home facility. That network and the gametime will be announced Monday, Feb. 9.
Buffalo is 14-5 overall and is in first place in the Mid-American Conference with a 6-1 league mark. It will only be the second meeting between the two schools, as Vermont topped the Bulls, 66-58 in Burlington during the 1961-62 season.
America East has had
BracketBuster television games in three of the past four years. Albany appeared
on ESPNU in 2005 and 2006, suffering an 83-82 loss at Boise State in 2007 after
falling 70-67 at Virginia Commonwealth in 2006. Vermont traveled to Nevada for
the event’s marquee game on ESPN2 in 2005. The Catamounts dropped a 74-64
decision to the Wolfpack, but advanced to the NCAA Tournament two weeks later
where they upset Syracuse, 60-57, in the first round.
Both Buffalo and Vermont were chosen from a pool of 102 teams selected earlier for the event in the season. Th eother 76 teams not chosen for TV will pair up for late-season non-conference contests. Boston University, Hartford and Vermont were among that group. The Terriers will host Iona, while Hartford travels to Marist and UMBC faces Rider. As part of the
agreement, the Catamounts and Bulls will meet in a return game early next
season in Buffalo.