2013 Sears ESPN Bracketbuster Game

[RussDaBus]

And why should we get the worst RPI and SOS of the group, in your opinion?

We got Detroit at 4pm on Saturday. ESPN or espn2.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

Groan...another home BB game against a motivated opponent that HAS to win to get into the Dance.

[GoShockers89]

We've known we're gonna take it up the butt on this event for 6 months now. I guess by sending us Detroit (who will be good again next year, unlike SDSU and SF Austin) they at least used lube. Am I grateful? Not really.

Creighton, on the other hand, got raw dogged as bad as we did last season by drawing St. Mary's.

F*&k you, Bracketbuster. I look forward to pissing on this thing's grave.

[Ta Town Shocker]

Friday, Feb. 22
North Dakota State at Akron, ESPN2, 7 ET
Stephen F. Austin at Long Beach State, ESPNU, 9 ET
Saturday, Feb. 23
Iona at Indiana State, ESPNU, 11 a.m. ET
Eastern Kentucky at Valparaiso, ESPNU, 1 ET
Canisius at Vermont, ESPN3, 1 ET
Pacific at Western Michigan, ESPN3, 2 ET
Montana at Davidson, ESPNU, 3 ET
Northwestern State at Niagara, ESPN3, 3 ET
Detroit at Wichita State, ESPN/2, 4 ET
Creighton at Saint Mary's, ESPN/2, 6 ET
South Dakota State at Murray State, ESPN2, 8 ET
Denver at Northern Iowa, ESPN3, 8 ET
Ohio at Belmont, ESPN2, 10 ET

[ABC]

Detroit, former MVC member. This ain't good, but there really weren't any good options.

[WuShock Reaper]

Just some observations amd thoughts:

Andy Katz only got two of the 13 matchups for the TV games correct - Creighton at Saint Mary's and the Detroit at Wichita State game.

11 of the 14 (78,6%) teams who were either in 1st place alone or tied in their conference race made the top TV games.
10 of the 13 (76.9%) teams who were either in 2nd place alone or tied in their conference race made the top TV games.
4 of the 13 (30.8% teams who were either in 3rd place alone or tied in their conference race made the top TV games.
No 4th place teams made the tv games and there were
There was one team in 5th place that made the TV games--Northern Iowa. UNI win over WSU got them a much better match up and a TV game.


Some teams of note who did not get a TV game:
Oral Roberts 1st in the Southland Conference
Western Illinois1st in the Summit League
Charleston Southern 1st in the Big South Conference


Teams with good winning records:
Western Illinois at 15-5
Utah State at 15-5
College of Charleston at 16-6
Weber State at 13-5


Teams with better RPI Rankings who did not make the TV Games:
Tennessee State - #97
Loyola-Maryland - #100
Oral Roberts - #101


Here are the non TV game Matchups: http://espnbracketbusters.com/site/a...schedule?id=12

[KC Shox]

Detroit - good athletes on that squad. It will be their high powered offense versus our tenacious D. They average 79 ppg. We have only one common opponent in Drake (which they won 85 - 79). Wonder if GM will hit up Drake for some tips?

Their SOS is at 76, pretty decent. Only lost to Syracuse by 4. They've got 5 guys who average double digits (very impressive), with the McCallum kid leading the way at 18 ppg. He's a guard so that means we'll be fortunate to keep him from dribble driving against us scoring points, dishing the ball and us not getting into foul trouble trying to stop him. He's a player.

[BAShocker]

So next years non-conference games will include: Detroit, Davidson, Tennessee, Tulsa, the tourney in KC (can't remember who is in it)...and who else am I missing? Not that bad thus far.

[GoShockers89]

So next years non-conference games will include: Detroit, Davidson, Tennessee, Tulsa, the tourney in KC (can't remember who is in it)...and who else am I missing? Not that bad thus far.

Yep.

The teams that will play in the Sprint Center are WSU, BYU, Texas and DePaul. I am assuming the tournament will make us take on a couple of cupcakes in Wichita as part of the deal. If that's the case, we'd be sitting at 8 games with up to 5 left to schedule since the exempt tournament counts for only 1 game.

[Kung Wu]

With all of the love the Zips have been getting from Jay Bilas on Twitter lately, that may actually get him to CKA.

Sweet profile pic!

[Shockeriffic]

There weren't any good options to choose from anyway. The return game probably won't be that great either. Three Seniors starting and McCallum will probably leave after this season since he's older than most Juniors. Fortunately, their 2 point defense ranks 315th at 52.3 percent. At least they sent us a team whose giant flaw matches up with our strength.

[GoShockers89]

There weren't any good options to choose from anyway. The return game probably won't be that great either. Three Seniors starting and McCallum will probably leave after this season since he's older than most Juniors. Fortunately, their 2 point defense ranks 315th at 52.3 percent. At least they sent us a team whose giant flaw matches up with our strength.

He's projected as the #43 pick in next year's draft (2014). Unranked in this season's projections. I'd be pretty surprised if he came out early.

[1972Shocker]

There weren't any good options to choose from anyway. The return game probably won't be that great either. Three Seniors starting and McCallum will probably leave after this season since he's older than most Juniors. Fortunately, their 2 point defense ranks 315th at 52.3 percent. At least they sent us a team whose giant flaw matches up with our strength.

The way we are currently playing and with our history of not playing well in BB I certainly can't see dissing Detroit as an opponent this year. Might be a good time to play a game outside of the conference. Maybe something that might refresh the guys somewhat for a tough stretch run. Next year will take care of itself one way or the other.

Go Shocks!

[WSUwatcher]

Next year will take care of itself one way or the other. Go Shocks!

+1, Mr. 1972.

As one of my old teachers used to say, "Sufficient for the day (year?) is the evil thereof." WSU has plenty to focus on right now, such as putting the ball in the basket -- worrying about next year is way premature.

[ShockerFever]

Yep.

The teams that will play in the Sprint Center are WSU, BYU, Texas and DePaul. I am assuming the tournament will make us take on a couple of cupcakes in Wichita as part of the deal. If that's the case, we'd be sitting at 8 games with up to 5 left to schedule since the exempt tournament counts for only 1 game.

They better not pair us up with DePaul again in a semifinal. We already had to swallow that nasty pill this year.

Given the field, at least at the current time, I would figure we would be the favorites going into the CBE next year..