DETROIT (2/4/13) – The 11th annual BracketBusters, a two-day men's college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Championship hopefuls against each other Feb. 22-23, will feature 13 nationally televised games – across ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. The NCAA hopefuls will be selected from a pool of 122 teams from 15 conferences, including the University of Detroit Mercy, which made the NCAA Tournament last year.

Detroit drew Wichita State as its BracketBusters opponent this season and will visit the Shockers on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN2. This will be the 20th all-time meeting between the schools, with Wichita State leading the series 12-7.

Wichita State, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, is 19-4 overall this season, including a 12-1 mark at home. The Shockers are 8-3 and in second place in the MVC heading into their Tuesday matchup at Southern Illinois. WSU is led by Cleanthony Early and Carl Hall, who average 15.0 and 12.6 points per game, respectively.

BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Championship play, will provide the 26 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks before Selection Sunday. The 96 teams not selected for BracketBusters will compete against each other through the same three days.

The 122-team field will feature teams from 13 conferences: 12 each from Big South, Mid-American Conference and Ohio Valley Conference; 11 from the Big Sky; 10 each from Big West, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley and Southland Conference; nine each from Horizon and Summit Leagues; six from the Western Athletic Association; four from the Southern Conference; three from the MEAC; and two each from the America East and West Coast Conferences.

As part of the agreement, all 13 of the BracketBusters home teams in televised games, as well as the remaining 58 home squads, will play a return game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the 2013-14 season.

BracketBusters is part of ESPN's college basketball franchise programming, along with Feast Week presented by Lowe's, Holiday Hoops Presented by Kay Jewelers, Rivalry Week, Bracket Builder Week and Championship Week Presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods.

Teams participating this season in BracketBusters have produced 101 appearances in the last seven NCAA Championships.

For more information on Bracketbusters, please visit espnbracketbusters.com.

Detroit all-time in the BracketBusters (6-4)
2003 - W, 75-59 at UC Santa Barbara
2004 - W, 70-49 vs. Ball State
2005 - L, 65-66 vs. Ohio
2006 - W, 65-63 vs. Toledo
2007 - W, 92-84 at Buffalo
2008 - L, 65-81 vs. Bowling Green
2009 - L, 75-78 at Tennessee State
2010 - W, 68-66 vs. Eastern Michigan
2011 - L, 76-84 at Drake
2012 – W, 82-70 vs. James Madison