1/21 Men’s Basketball Bracket Buster Projections

Bracket Buster Projections (1/21)

The tenth annual Bracket Busters is quickly approaching. This year there are a record 142 teams and 71 games. Sixteen different conferences are taking part in Bracket Busters weekend from February 17th to 19th. While there will be 71 games, 13 of those will be on the ESPN family of networks and those are the games each team is hoping to get into. But not everybody can get the national television exposure. The official announcement of the matchups will come on January 30th, but in the meantime College Sports Madness will project all 71 games and give some insight as to why the lucky 26 teams deserve to make a case for an at-large bid, or at least gain some momentum before their conference tournament, on national television. Check back next week to see the latest projections just a couple days before the official announcement.

	St. Mary’s	AT	Murray State
Right now St. Mary’s and Creighton going at it might make the most sense, but who wouldn’t want to see a team head to Murray State and try to defeat the presumably unbeaten Racers? If anybody is going to have a real shot at knocking off Murray State, it will during Bracket Busters and this is the matchup that could do it.
	Long Beach State	AT	Creighton
Creighton does not get left out of a premier contest. Long Beach State has gone through a brutal schedule and beaten teams like Pittsburgh and Xavier. They will not be intimidated heading to Omaha to face the fierce home court advantage of the Bluejays. The result could be a make or break game for Long Beach State’s shot at an at-large berth. Creighton may need the win as well with a tough conference slate ahead of them.
	Wichita State	AT	Iona
Unlike Wichita State, it appears that Iona will need to win the MAAC Tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament. Right now they have a solid RPI, but that is only going to go down and losing to teams like Manhattan certainly does not help. For the Shockers, this could be a great opportunity to get a quality win on the road against a very good team. However, to some, it could also appear to be a bad lose for Wichita State even though the Gaels boast an explosive offense that can hit the 100 mark without much a problem.
	Charleston	AT	Missouri State
Charleston has been terribly inconsistent lately and that will need to change if they want to stay up here in the televised games. With Antwaine Wiggins and Andrew Lawrence leading the way, Coach Bobby Cremins should have his Cougars hitting their stride sooner or later. When they do, they can beat a team like Missouri State on the road. So far Missouri State are holding their own in the Missouri Valley Conference, but are on the way down after a tough stretch of games. Even with a heartbreaking loss to Northern Iowa, they won at Creighton. If they can string some wins together, the Bears will be eyeing an at-large bid, but a game against Charleston will not help much.
	Northern Iowa	AT	Cleveland State
Speaking of the bubble, these two teams appear to be headed right for it. Northern Iowa is slipping right now, but the Missouri Valley Conference will provide the Panthers plenty of opportunities to reach the NCAA Tournament without winning a few games during Arch Madness. Cleveland State is in a similar situation, but their RPI will not remain as high as UNI unless they keep winning. The Horizon League schedule is simply not as impressive as that of the MVC. If Cleveland State loses a game or two along the way, this could be the late season signature win they need.
	Akron	AT	Oral Roberts
Akron will be a player in the MAC, but for everybody in the MAC it will come down to a few days in Cleveland, so this game will not bust any brackets. The Zips have had some nice wins this season. The same can be said for Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles have played some great basketball after losing their first two games of the year. ORU does not lose very often at home and it would take a big effort from the Zips to come home with a win.
	Drexel	AT	Davidson
Drexel got off to a slow start, but this is a good team…at least at times. The Dragons will have some conference road tests to overcome before they get a televised game in Bracket Busters, but this is a team that not long ago beat VCU and George Mason in back to back games. The Dragons are on a roll, but Davidson is a tough matchup. The Wildcats got some attention after beating Kansas and have started out SoCon play very strongly.
	Nevada	AT	Ohio
Ohio is right there with Akron as the best team in the MAC. Nevada will battle it out with New Mexico State for that honor in the WAC. It is doubtful that this game will have any at-large appeal, but both teams could use some momentum down the stretch in a couple of conferences that should be very tight during February and March.
	UCSB	AT	New Mexico State
Long Beach State is not the only team in the Big West. UCSB has played a tough schedule and does not have the big wins like LBSU, but Orlando Johnson and company will give the 49ers a run for their money in the Big West. NMSU has gained some momentum lately during a stretch of easy games and have a few conference wins under their belt as well. The WAC does not look like a two bid league no matter what, but the Aggies are probably the one team with the talent to win enough games to get into the conversation.
	Drake	AT	VCU
VCU will likely get a televised game just because they are VCU. However, there are some quality teams like Kent State, Illinois State and Milwaukee who may get left out. ESPN goes with what is hot and VCU is hot right now. Their competition could be yet another MVC team. Drake may not be the most deserving squad right now, but it is an interesting game between a couple teams that have had some March success.
	Buffalo	AT	Butler
It remains to be seen if Buffalo is the third best team in the Mid-American Conference behind Ohio and Akron, but with a quality win over Kent State, they have earned their way into a televised game…or at least televised on your computer like every other game in the world. A lack of quality road teams in the pool will help the MAC get a third team into the top 13 matchups. Butler will probably get to host a game because of the past and this one could sneak into a televised game.
	Fairfield	AT	George Mason
Fairfield may not be the most worthy opponent either, but the Stags have a slew of talent and even with an average RPI, they could sneak into a televised game due to stars like Rakim Sanders and Derek Needham. They better start winning some games though. George Mason is among a host of teams slated for a home game that have had some history in the NCAA Tournament.
	Oakland	AT	Weber State
Oakland is finally winning some games after a rough six game losing streak. The Grizzlies are a better team than their record indicates and there are some slim pickings on the road side of the bracket, so they could get the nod if they can keep winning games. Weber State is sporting a nice RPI at the moment, but Montana may be the better team in the Big Sky. We’ll find out before the official announcements, but do not be surprised if some Big Sky team gets to host one of the 13 featured games and with Weber State’s home win over Montana last weekend, the Wildcats are the likely candidate.
	Binghamton	AT	Radford
	Boston U	AT	Central Michigan
	Cal Poly	AT	Utah State
	Campbell	AT	Evansville
	Central Arkansas	AT	Appalachian State
	Delaware State	AT	VMI
	Eastern Michigan	AT	Detroit
	Eastern Washington	AT	Loyola Marymount
	Fresno State	AT	Montana
	Hampton	AT	Sam Houston State
	Hartford	AT	Canisius
	Hawaii	AT	UC Riverside
	High Point	AT	Albany
	Idaho State	AT	Pacific
	Illinois-Chicago	AT	SIU-Edwardsville
	Indiana State	AT	Milwaukee
	IPFW	AT	Bradley
	IUPUI	AT	Maine
	James Madison	AT	Bowling Green
	Lamar	AT	North Dakota State
	Liberty	AT	Southeast Louisiana
	Loyola (IL)	AT	Miami (OH)
	Marist	AT	Gardner-Webb
	Montana State	AT	UC Irvine
	Morehead State	AT	McNeese State
	Niagara	AT	Eastern Illinois
	Northern Illinois	AT	Northern Arizona
	Old Dominion	AT	Kent State
	Portland State	AT	Idaho
	Presbyterian	AT	Delaware
	Rider	AT	Vermont
	San Jose State	AT	UMKC
	SE Missouri State	AT	South Dakota
	Siena	AT	Green Bay
	Southern Illinois	AT	Austin Peay
	Southern Utah	AT	Cal State Fullerton
	Stony Brook	AT	Ball State
	Tennessee State	AT	Northern Colorado
	Tennessee Tech	AT	Northwestern State
	Tennessee-Martin	AT	Louisiana Tech
	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	AT	Cal State Northridge
	Texas State	AT	Jacksonville State
	Texas-Arlington	AT	Eastern Kentucky
	Texas-San Antonio	AT	Morgan State
	Toledo	AT	Nicholls State
	Towson	AT	Sacramento State
	UC Davis	AT	New Hampshire
	UMBC	AT	Stephen F. Austin
	UNC-Asheville	AT	Loyola (MD)
	UNC-Wilmington	AT	Coastal Carolina
	Valparaiso	AT	South Dakota State
	Western Illinois	AT	Illinois State
	Western Michigan	AT	Manhattan
	William & Mary	AT	Saint Peter’s
	Winthrop	AT	Hofstra
	Wofford	AT	Northeastern
	Wright State	AT	Charleston Southern
	Youngstown State	AT	Georgia State