ESPN gives SIUE shot at BracketBusters
T.J. Cowell
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: Sports
The SIUE men's basketball team will take their next step toward making school history by competing in the eighth annual BracketBusters event on Feb. 19 and 20.
The two-day experience is part of the ESPN college basketball franchise. Of the 98 schools selected to take part in BracketBusters, SIUE is listed as an away team.
"It is a very exciting thing," SIUE men's basketball Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "It is another way to get the university exposure and be known."
The Cougars will find out their opponent on Feb. 1 when matchups are announced. All 11 members of the Ohio Valley Conference are scheduled to take part in BracketBusters. Other schools competing are members of American East, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, MEAC, Southern, Summit and Western Athletic conferences.
BracketBusters was named because of the success of its teams in tournament play. The event will see 11 games televised nationally, with five contests on ESPNU and six on ESPN2. Network assignments for the games will be announced on Feb. 1. According to a press release by espnbracketbusters.com, teams participating in BracketBusters have made 89 appearances in the last six NCAA tournaments.
Included in that list was a 2006 Bradley University squad who made it to the Sweet Sixteen after knocking off the University of Kansas and Pittsburgh University, respectively in the first and second rounds of that year's NCAA tournament. At the time, Forrester served as an assistant coach at Bradley, where according to Forrester, he worked with the Braves' post and perimeter players.
"It was an awesome feeling while I was at Bradley and a great run," Forrester said. "We will have the same feeling."
Although SIUE is still not eligible to compete in the NCAA tournament, the Cougars can qualify for three other postseason tournaments including the National Transition Tournament, the College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Forrester said his team will look to make a postseason run.
The two-day experience is part of the ESPN college basketball franchise. Of the 98 schools selected to take part in BracketBusters, SIUE is listed as an away team.
"It is a very exciting thing," SIUE men's basketball Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "It is another way to get the university exposure and be known."
The Cougars will find out their opponent on Feb. 1 when matchups are announced. All 11 members of the Ohio Valley Conference are scheduled to take part in BracketBusters. Other schools competing are members of American East, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, MEAC, Southern, Summit and Western Athletic conferences.
BracketBusters was named because of the success of its teams in tournament play. The event will see 11 games televised nationally, with five contests on ESPNU and six on ESPN2. Network assignments for the games will be announced on Feb. 1. According to a press release by espnbracketbusters.com, teams participating in BracketBusters have made 89 appearances in the last six NCAA tournaments.
Included in that list was a 2006 Bradley University squad who made it to the Sweet Sixteen after knocking off the University of Kansas and Pittsburgh University, respectively in the first and second rounds of that year's NCAA tournament. At the time, Forrester served as an assistant coach at Bradley, where according to Forrester, he worked with the Braves' post and perimeter players.
"It was an awesome feeling while I was at Bradley and a great run," Forrester said. "We will have the same feeling."
Although SIUE is still not eligible to compete in the NCAA tournament, the Cougars can qualify for three other postseason tournaments including the National Transition Tournament, the College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Forrester said his team will look to make a postseason run.
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