ORUEaglesNest.com - ORU Selected Again for ESPN Bracket Buster

September 15, 2005

TULSA--For the second straight season Oral Roberts University men's basketball team has been selected to participate in ESPN's Bracket Buster series. Bracket Buster games will be played on Saturday, February 18, 2006. A total of 11 games in the series will be televised by ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. ESPN Bracket Buster television pairings will be announced on January 29th.

ORU has once again been designated as a road team, and will receive a return trip to the Mabee Center from its opponent during the 2006-07 season.

The 2006 ESPN Bracket Buster, which began three seasons ago with just 18 teams, has been expanded this year to include 100 teams from 18 conferences. Participating conferences include: Mid-American Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Western Athletic Conference, Horizon League, Big West Conference, Colonial Athletic Association, Sun Belt Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, America East, Mid-Continent Conference, Southern Conference, Southland Conference, West Coast Conference, Patriot League, and Northeast Conference.

"This is a great opportunity for us," said seventh-year ORU head coach Scott Sutton. "We're excited to be a part of the Bracket Buster series for the second straight year. It's an opportunity for us to possibly have another game on national television, and it will allow us to put a quality opponent on our 2006-07 home schedule."

The Golden Eagles defeated Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) 86-76 in an ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday game last season in Springfield, Mo. ORU went 25-8 in 2004-05, winning the Mid-Continent Conference regular-season title and advancing to the NIT.

ORU returns seven letterwinners and four starters -- including 2005 Associated Pres Honorable Mention All-America and Mid-Con Player of the Year Caleb Green (Tulsa, Okla.) and fellow junior Ken Tutt (Garland, Texas). Green, a 6-8, 240-pound forward, averaged 19.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in '04-05. Tutt, a 6-1, 205-pound guard, is a two-time first-team all-conference performer who averaged 17.1 points and 2.5 three-pointers per game last season.

2006 Bracket Buster Field
HOME TEAMS: Austin Peay, Ball State, Boise State, Bowling Green, Bradley, Cal State-Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Central Michigan, College of Charleston, Cleveland State, Creighton, Drexel, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Evansville, Hawaii, Hofstra, Jacksonville State, Kent State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Loyola (Ill.), Loyola (Md.), Manhattan, Miami (Ohio), Montana, Montana State, Murray State, Nevada, Northeastern, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Old Dominion, Pacific, Saint Mary's (Calif.), Saint Peter's, San Jose State, Southern Illinois, Utah State, Valparaiso, Virginia Commonwealth, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Wichita State, Winthrop, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee.

AWAY TEAMS: ORAL ROBERTS, Akron, Albany, Arkansas State, Bucknell, Buffalo, Butler, Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State-Northridge, Delaware, Drake, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Washington, Fairfield, Fairleigh Dickinson, Fresno State,George Mason, Georgia State, High Point, Idaho, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois State, Indiana State, Long Beach State, Louisiana Tech, Marist, Missouri State, Morehead State, New Mexico State, New Orleans, Niagara, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Greensboro, Northern Arizona, Northern Illinois, Northwestern State, Rider, Samford, Santa Clara, Siena, Southeast Missouri State, Stephen F. Austin, Toledo, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Vermont, Wright State and Youngstown State.

--ORU--

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