Four Southern Conference teams will participate in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters event this year, including one competing in a BracketBuster game, on Saturday, February 17.
Wichita State plays host to Appalachian State in the lone BracketBuster game for the Southern Conference. Those two teams will be broadcast on one of the channels in the ESPN family of networks. Three other SoCon teams will compete in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBuster pool. Elon will play at Georgia State while Jacksonville State will tangle with Chattanooga at McKenzie Arena and UNC Wilmington will play at UNC Greensboro. Host teams will make a return visit next season.
Appalachian State boasts a 17-5 overall record including a 9-2 mark in Southern Conference play. Coach Houston Fancher’s team is currently in first place in the conference’s North Division. Wichita State has a 14-8 worksheet under first-year coach Benny Moss.
After starting the season 1-7, Elon has a 5-14 overall record with a 3-6 mark in the Southern Conference. Coach Ernie Nestor’s squad won the SoCon’s North Division crown in 2006. Georgia State is 7-13, 3-13 in Colonial Athletic Association play for coach Mike Perry.
Led by Keddric Mays, Chattanooga has a 9-14 record including a 2-8 Southern Conference log. Mays is second in the nation in three-pointers (4.1 per game). Coach John Shulman’s team posted a 19-13 record in 2005-06. Jacksonville State is 5-16 on the season, 3-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Coach Mike LaPlante is in his sixth season with the Gamecocks.
UNC Greensboro is 12-9 overall and tied for the Southern Conference’s North Division lead with a 9-2 mark. The Spartans are led by Kyle Hines (21.8 ppg) and Ricky Hickman (14.2 ppg). UNC Wilmington is 5-15 overall and 2-9 in the CAA for seventh-year coach Mark Turgeon.
The BracketBusters series will be televised on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360 on Friday and Saturday, February 16-17. Fourteen of the 51 match-ups pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other will be televised nationally, highlighted by a total of six games on ESPN2. An additional five games will be aired on ESPNU and three on ESPN360.
In all, a total of 102 teams will compete in the 51-game, two-day event. The pool features 12 teams from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic Association, 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference, 10 from the Missouri Valley and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferences, nine from the Horizon League and Western Athletic Conference, eight from the Big West Conference, four from the Big Sky and Southern Conferences, three from the Big South Conference and Patriot League, two from the America East, Mid-Continent and Southland Conferences, and one from the West Coast Conference.