'09 Bracket Busters

[Grant H]

The announcement for who we'll play in the Bracket Buster game on February 20th or 21st comes out on February 2nd, since we have a home game this year we will play some one from the following list:

Akron, Appalachian State, Austin Peay, Boise State, Bradley, Buffalo, Butler, Canisius, Cleveland State, CS-Fullerton, CS-Northridge, Delaware, Detroit, Eastern Illinois, Elon, FDU, Fresno State, George Mason, Hartford, Hofstra, Illinois State, Iona, Jacksonville State, Loyola-MD, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Gardner-Webb, Manhattan, Miami-OH, Missouri State, Montana State, Morehead State, Morgan State, North Dakota State, Northeastern, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Pacific, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, St. Peter's, Tennessee Tech, Toledo, UC-Irvine, UC-Riverside, UMBC, Utah State, UW-Green Bay and VCU.

Considering our record I'd say there is no chance that we play a team with a .500 or worse record even with about a week left until the pairings are made, so if we remove those teams we're left with the following:

Akron (11-8 (2-3)), Austin Peay (12-8 (8-2)), Boise State (14-5 (5-2)), Bradley (12-8 (6-3)), Buffalo (12-5 (4-1)), Butler (18-1 (9-0)), Cleveland State (13-8 (4-5)), George Mason (15-5 (8-2)), Illinois State (17-3 (6-3)), Liberty (15-7 (6-4)), Manhattan (11-9 (5-5)), Miami (OH) (10-7 (3-2)), Morehead State (11-10 (7-2)), North Dakota State (14-5 (8-1)), Northeastern (14-6 (9-1)), Northern Iowa (14-6 (8-1)), Ohio (10-8 (3-2)), Pacific (11-7 (4-3)), Tennessee Tech (10-9 (4-5), UC Riverside (11-7 (3-3)), Utah State (19-1 (7-0), UW-Green Bay (15-6 (7-2)), VCU (15-6 (8-2))

Additionally I think we can remove Akron, Manhattan, Morehead State, Ohio, Pacific, Tennesse Tech and UC Riverside from consideration because of their mediocre records and Butler and Utah State (looks like its going to be Butler @ St. Mary's and Utah St. @ Davidson, or some configuration of those four as the featured games, those should be a fun to watch) because of their excellent records, so that trims the list to this:

Austin Peay (12-8 (8-2)), Boise State (14-5 (5-2)), Bradley (12-8 (6-3)), Buffalo (12-5 (4-1)), Cleveland State (13-8 (4-5)), George Mason (15-5 (8-2)), Illinois State (17-3 (6-3)), Liberty (15-7 (6-4)), Miami (OH) (10-7 (3-2)), North Dakota State (14-5 (8-1)), Northeastern (14-6 (9-1)), Northern Iowa (14-6 (8-1)), UW-Green Bay (15-6 (7-2)), VCU (15-6 (8-2))

There are 51 games total and 13 will be televised by either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN360.com. The announcement for which games are televised comes on February 9th. If we sweep our four games before that date I'd say we are a lock for a TV game, and even if we just beat the Montanas this week I'd say we'll be matched up with a good enough opponent that they'll have to televise it (plus the exposure we got from beating Gonzaga will surely win us some points). I'm pumped for this game and glad that PSU has been a part of this series. I know Coach Bone has been down on participating in it, especially when it's a road game, but I think that now that our program is on the rise nationally the extra coverage it gets us will be really valuable.

Oh, and by the way, from that last list who do you think we'll play and who would you like to see us play?

 

[weberwildcat2]

I'd love to see USU and PSU duke it out except both have a home game so it wont work...sadly I have season tkts to USU (free though)...not just WSU. LOL. They are 50 miles apart.

Boise would be a good one.

 

[martymoose]

I'd love to George Mason come in and play us.

 

[dystopiamembrane]

We probably need a Mason or a Bradley to get a TV spot as the Stott is rather small.
I hope it's Liberty. Maybe Jerry Falwell will come!

 

[Grant H]

I'd love to see USU and PSU duke it out except both have a home game so it wont work...sadly I have season tkts to USU (free though)...not just WSU. LOL. They are 50 miles apart.

Boise would be a good one.

Utah St. is actually a road team this year, I just think they'll draw either St. Mary's or Davidson, but yeah that would be a fun one.

We probably need a Mason or a Bradley to get a TV spot as the Stott is rather small.
I hope it's Liberty. Maybe Jerry Falwell will come!

I thought about the size of the Stott being a hindrance to getting a TV game, but does it really matter to the TV audience how many people the gym holds? It very well could be an issue or maybe the size could be a problem for the TV crew, but hopefully we'll have such a good draw it'll get televised.

 

[ManOfVision]

I watched George Mason vs. VCU on TV the other day, and those are two really tough teams. Getting VCU with their stud, Maynor, to visit the Stott would be an awesome scenario.

 

[WiViking]

I don't want any part of Northern Iowa, UWGB, or VCU. North Dakota State is always dangerous too. Liberty and Buffalo are just fine with me. I'll be there either way.

 

[weberwildcat2]

I don't want any part of Northern Iowa, UWGB, or VCU. North Dakota State is always dangerous too. Liberty and Buffalo are just fine with me. I'll be there either way.

I'd rather see the Viks play an FBS football school opposed to an FCS football school.

 

[VikThunder1]

Screw ESPN if they dump on us for our pillbox gym. It would be awesome if we get a team that matters. Also, remember that Ritchie McKay is the head coach at Liberty.

 

[weberwildcat2]

I don't get why they bother calling it a "bracket buster" ive noticed over the years the matchups and games have been pretty lame.

 

[WILDCAT]

Utah State is at home again?

Well there is nothing new.

 

[Grant H]

So the TV announcements are out. We play Boise State at the Stott on Saturday 2/21 @ 4:30 PM PST on ESPNU. Too bad it didn't make ESPN2, but at least it's a national TV game, I'll take it and it should be a fun one. By the way Boise State hosts Utah St. this coming Saturday, a win there for Boise should help boost the profile of this game.