Sept. 15, 2005

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - ESPN has announced that Southeast Missouri State University will be one of an event-record 100 men's basketball teams, including all 11 member institutions of the Ohio Valley Conference, that will be in the Bracket Buster Saturday. Scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 18, 2006, the event allows Division I conferences to participate in a cutting-edge format that involves "wild-card" scheduling for the pool of participating teams.

"We are very happy and excited to be included in Bracket Buster Saturday," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "This has become a big event in college basketball and just being included will provide an immediate boost to our recruiting. It should also enable us to play against teams we would otherwise have trouble scheduling."

In an effort to provide a greater opportunity for NCAA Tournament-caliber teams, the 2006 version of Bracket Buster Saturday features an expanded pool of 100 teams (up from 18 in 2003, 46 in 2004 and 64 in 2005), which will produce a better cross section of squads for the basketball bonanza. A total of 11 games will be televised, including six games on ESPN or ESPN2, and the remaining five games on ESPNU - ESPN's new collegiate network that was launched on March 4, 2005. The remaining 39 games will not be televised.

One-half of the 100-team field has been pre-designated as "home" teams and the remaining half as "road" teams. Southeast Missouri will be a "road" team.

One unique aspect that sets Bracket Buster Saturday apart from other made-for-television events is that the pairing of teams is not pre-determined. Actual pairings take place three weeks in advance of the event, and those match-ups are determined on the basis of regular-season play. The evaluation and pairings of teams for the ESPN television package will be made by the staff of ESPN, in consultation with the commissioners of participating conferences. Consideration will be given to avoiding match-ups of conference teams and match-ups of any teams that have already met during the current season.

The match-ups for the 11 televised games will be made public on Sunday, January 29, 2006, while pairing decisions for the remaining games that will not be televised will be announced by Thursday, February 2, 2006.

Another important component for the event is future scheduling. Each team that participates in Bracket Buster Saturday in any given year agrees to enter into a home-and-home series with its eventual opponent, with the return game scheduled for the following season.