BRISTOL, Conn. — For the first time in conference history, all nine America East men’s basketball programs will be in the pool of teams eligible for Sears BracketBusters, ESPN’s three-day men’s college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Championship hopefuls against each other, the organization announced Wednesday afternoon. The event, which will feature 13 televised contests on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN3, will take place Feb. 17-19 with the matchups being announced Jan. 30. Albany, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont will serve as home teams for the event, while Binghamton, Boston University, Hartford, UMBC and Stony Brook will be on the road.
“We are ecstatic to have all nine of our men’s basketball programs be part of the BracketBusters pool for the first time,” said America East Interim Commissioner Shonna Brown. “Having a team chosen by ESPN for a nationally-televised game in this event five of the past seven years has allowed us to showcase America East basketball with the best mid-major conferences in the nation. The inclusion of all nine teams this year should only increase the opportunities for additional exposure for our schools.”
Vermont made its third BracketBusters television appearance last season, falling at College of Charleston on ESPNU. The Catamounts also received a TV game in 2009 and beat Buffalo on ESPN2, 88-80. Albany appeared on ESPNU twice, suffering narrow losses at Boise State in 2007 (83-82) and VCU in 2006 (70-67). 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.
Sears BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Championship play, will provide the 26 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks before Selection Sunday. The 116 teams not selected for Sears BracketBusters will compete against each other through the same three days.
The 142-team field will feature teams from 16 conferences: 12 each from Colonial Athletic Association, Mid-American Conference and Southland; 11 each from Ohio Valley Conference and Big South; 10 each from Horizon League, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley and Summit League; nine each from America East, Big Sky and Big West; eight from the Western Athletic Association; four from the Southern Conference; three from the MEAC; and two from the West Coast Conference.
As part of the agreement, all 13 of the Sears BracketBusters home teams in televised games, as well as the remaining 58 home squads, will play a return game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the 2013-14 season.
Teams participating this season in Sears BracketBusters have produced 87 appearances in the last six NCAA Championships, including Albany in 2006 and 2007, UMBC in 2008, Binghamton in 2009, Vermont in 2010 and Boston U. in 2011.