Last year ETSU traveled across the country to face Fresno State in a Bracket Busters Saturday game. This year the Bucs will host a team from a little closer to home when they play Austin Peay on Feb. 19 in Memorial Center. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
“We like this pairing because it gives us a good game with an in-state program,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. The Bucs join the College of Charleston, Chattanooga and Georgia Southern in representing the Southern Conference in the event.
ESPN designed Bracket Busters Saturday to give teams from mid-major conferences the opportunity to play quality opponents from other conferences and possibly enhance their resumes enough to receive at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament.
There will be a total of 64 teams playing in 32 games, with 11 games televised on ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN Full Court. None of the SoCon teams will be playing in televised games.
Austin Peay coach Dave Loos is excited to be in the event again this year.
“We had a great experience in the Bracket Buster last year,” Loos said. “I think it is the top mid-major basketball event. We are honored to be included in the field.”
In addition to hosting the Governors this year, ETSU will be obligated to play a return game at Austin Peay next season. “It (the return home game) is a great spin-off of being involved in Bracket Buster Saturday,” Loos said. “Having a quality home game on your schedule the following year works out very well.”
The Governors and the Bucs both played last year in the event. Austin Peay lost at Wichita State last year while ETSU knocked off Fresno State on the road last year.
Both teams benefited from hosting their opponents from last year in home games this season. “Scheduling is very difficult,” Loos said, “To get some of the people in this field to come to your gym would not be very promising if it wasn’t because of this event.”

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