Jimmy Tillette knows where Louisiana Tech is located – and that’s about all he knows thus far for his team’s BracketBuster opponent on Saturday.

Tillette, Samford men’s basketball head coach, grew up a Catholic in New Orleans. But Louisiana Tech, in Ruston, La., didn’t fit into his travel plans as a youth because “it was Baptist country.”

All joking aside, Tillette makes a good point about Saturday’s extravagant BracketBuster event.

“Not a big fan of the BracketBuster,” Tillette said. “I think it ruins conference play. The last thing you want at this point is a distraction.”

The six-year event includes all 11 Ohio Valley Conference schools for the third straight year. A total of 100 teams are in the event this year, which starts Friday and ends Sunday.

The purpose is to give mid-major teams on the cusp of making the NCAA tournament more exposure late in the year. A crucial win for a team that’s 19-6, like Wright State is in the Horizon League, who faces Illinois State on Sunday in the event, could vault them ahead of a team in a larger conference.

Like in the case of North Carolina State, a team that’s 15-11 from the Atlantic Coast Conference. But if the Wolfpack finishes with at least 20 wins, and Wright State doesn’t win the Horizon League Tournament, analysts will argue for N.C. State to make the tournament as an at-large bid and keep Wright State out.

But the main problem with this event is the number of teams. The initial event in 2003 only had 18 teams participate, which were the premier mid-major teams in the nation. Of the 18 teams that year, 11 made the NCAA Tournament, and Butler advanced to the Sweet 16.

The number of teams increased from that initial event to 46 in 2004 and to 64 teams in 2005. The big jump happened in 2006, with the jump to 100 teams.

With the increase in teams has come another advantage, or disadvantage, depending on what coach you talk to. Each game gets a guaranteed home-and-home series with an opponent. For instance, Eastern played at Loyola of Chicago in the 2007 event. The two teams then met again this season in Charleston.

Southeast Missouri head coach Scott Edgar raised a valid point during Monday’s teleconference. SEMO hosted Louisiana Tech in the 2007 event and had to play Louisiana Tech on the road this season. And the 2008 BracketBuster didn’t help cut down any of the Redhawks’ travel expenses. SEMO has to travel to play at Eastern Michigan this Saturday.

Some coaches like the concept of the event just because it gives their team another quality non-conference opponent to face. But in a league like the OVC, especially with the 20-game conference schedule each team plays, the scheduling of conference games is problematic.

The last three seasons, the league has had to start conference play in early December – not an ideal time for OVC teams to start the most important part of their season. In fact, Eastern had to play at Murray State two days after Thanksgiving in the 2006-07 season because of the BracketBuster event.

This weekend could be used to fill the schedule with a conference game, or make it a regular conference week, with games on Thursday and Saturday. The conference season might still start before January, but with the availability of this weekend for league games, teams could start their league play later in December.

The OVC had a porous non-conference schedule, and has for the majority of the last 10 years, so non-conference games, like the ones this weekend, don’t have much of an effect this late in the season.

Eastern started to participate in the event in 2006 and has every year since. The Panthers host Evansville at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in this year’s game. This game, along with the majority of this year’s games, has no direct effect on the NCAA tournament.

Saturday night’s game at Lantz Arena is a perfect example. The Panthers are stumbling along to quite possibly the program’s worst season in Division I history. The Purple Aces are in a rebuilding mode under first-year head coach Marty Simmons and haven’t had the success this year programs there in the past have had. It’s nothing more than a glorified exhibition played in late February.

The BracketBuster game hasn’t done any favors for Eastern. The Panthers are 0-2 in the event, and have lost both return games as well.

All 11 OVC head coaches have somewhat differing opinions on the event. Some coaches, like Tillette, flat out don’t like it. Other coaches, like Austin Peay’s Dave Loos, are in favor of the event.

The game doesn’t present advantages for any league opponent this year. Whoever wins the league tournament will earn the only OVC bid to the NCAA tournament.

Austin Peay, in first-place with an overall 18-10 record, will only hurt their resume with a loss against Georgia Southern on Saturday night.

Tennessee-Martin head coach Bret Campbell, whose team plays Elon on Saturday, only has two games in the next two weeks, and would like his team’s schedule spread out more consistently.

However, he makes a valid point about the event.

“I know there’s a lot of different opinions on do we want to play those or do we not,” Campbell said. “But I think when originally we started it, we all wanted to be a part of it.”

The time for the OVC to have all 11 schools involved in the event, and for the event to have 100 teams compete, needs to end.

What was once a good idea to elevate and promote the premier mid-major teams has turned into a watered-down event with no motivation for most teams.

Matt Daniels can be reached at 581-7936 or at mwdaniels@eiu.edu.