UAlbany Men's Basketball Will Participate in O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters on Feb. 22-23

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Albany, N.Y. -- University at Albany Vice President and Director of Athletics Lee McElroy announced on Thursday, Aug. 23 that the men’s basketball has been invited to play in the sixth annual O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters series on Feb. 22-23, 2008. The Great Danes, who are participating for the third consecutive year, are among 100 teams selected to the pool. UAlbany, the defending America East Conference champion, is joined in the field by conference members Boston University, Vermont and Binghamton.


“BracketBusters has been a good event for our program and the University,” said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team has been involved in a pair of thrilling finishes against Virginia Commonwealth and Boise State the previous two years. “The game has provided great exposure, as our team has been featured on national television twice. It also allows us the opportunity to play a quality opponent that would not normally be on our schedule.”


In its sixth year, BracketBusters is an ESPN television property that provides potential NCAA Tournament-caliber teams a chance to meet in a two-day, 50-game event. A minimum of 12 of the 50 match-ups will be televised nationally, highlighted by a total of six games on ESPN2. An additional five games will be aired on ESPNU – ESPN’s 24-hour collegiate sports network which launched on March 4, 2005 – and one on ESPN Classic.


The match-ups for the BracketBusters series will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conference approximately three weeks prior to the event. As part of the agreement, home teams will play a “return” game at the home facility of their BracketBusters series opponent in November or December of the following season. UAlbany has been tabbed as a “road” team for the 2008 event, which will result in a home game versus its selected opponent during the 2008-09 season. The Great Danes have appeared on ESPNU in each of the last two BracketBusters, suffering an 83-82 loss at Boise State last February after falling 70-67 at Virginia Commonwealth in 2006.


In 2006-07, UAlbany reached the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season as the America East Conference champion. Brent Wilson, a third-team all-conference forward, leads a group of seven letterwinners who are back from last year’s 23-10 squad. Brian Lillis, the league’s defensive player of the year, and Jon Iati, one of the program’s all-time leading three-point shooters, also return. This year’s roster includes six newcomers.