Bracketbuster Pairings Announced Today

Tonight on ESPNU the Bracketbuster pairings will be announced, however we still won't know the times or dates of the games until February 8. Andy Katz has his predictions for the CAA and the VCU Ram Nation Blog has a nice little chart with all the home and away teams listed with current RPI rankings. In previous years, current RPI rankings have been pretty accurate when trying to predict which teams will be matched together. So looking at the chart from the Ram Nation blog it would seem like College of Charleston (94), Buffalo (101), Wright State (112), and Indiana State (87) are all possible teams likely to be paired with the Patriots. None of these teams seem exciting but it's not like Mason is in the running for an at-large bid. The rules are different in terms of return games this year, they would not be played until the 2011-2012 season. My question, however, is will the Patriots' options be limited because they are planning this game for their homecoming and already have it on the calendar for Saturday February 20th.

I am not sure how likely it would be for Mason to get a TV game on any of th ESPN networks outside of ESPN360, if you consider that TV. The Patriots have done all they can with their conference schedule so far and currently sit alone in 1st place in a conference that is ranked 12th in the country so far. Do they select the Patriots for a TV game with someone else who is currently at the top their conference, someone like Akron or Charleston? You would think they would want a team that is currently rolling to face another hot streaking team but RPI numbers could be a big factor.

My prediction: College of Charleston

What are your predictions?