The University of Delaware men’s basketball team, which is celebrating the centennial of the sport on campus, is one of eight Colonial Athletic Association members selected to participate in the ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday event on Feb. 18, 2006.

Joining UD from the CAA are Old Dominion University, the defending conference champion, as well as Drexel, Hofstra, Northeastern, Virginia Commonwealth, George Mason and Georgia State.

Last season, Old Dominion represented the conference in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, while Drexel, Hofstra, Northeastern and Virginia Commonwealth competed in the National Invitation Tournament.

Bracket Buster Saturday provides NCAA Division I tournament-caliber teams the opportunity to face off in a one-day, 50-game event. A total of 11 games will be televised, including six games on ESPN or ESPN2. The other five games will be televised on ESPNU, ESPN’s new collegiate network.

While teams have already been designated as being at home or on the road, with UD playing an away game, the actual pairings will not take place until three weeks before the event and are based on regular season play. As part of the agreement, all home squads will play a return game at the home facility of their opponent next season.

“We are extremely excited to have eight participants, including our five postseason teams from last season, included in this year’s event,” CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager says. “Bracket Busters is an innovative concept that provides important late season national television exposure for those teams trying to position themselves for the NCAA tournament.”

The CAA is poised for a strong season in 2005-06 as the league’s 12 teams welcome back 70 percent of their starting lineups. Among the returnees are 14 players who earned all-conference recognition last season as well as 16 of the CAA’s top 18 scorers and 19 of the conference’s top 20 in rebounds.

Old Dominion was ranked 21st nationally in a preseason poll and its star player, forward Alex Loughton, was named a third team preseason All-American by Streets & Smith’s sports magazine. The Monarchs will visit UD in a game to be played at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center.

Returning for the Fightin’ Blue Hens under Head Coach David Henderson is All-CAA senior forward Harding Nana, one of the premier forwards in the nation. Nana scored 18.5 points and had 10.4 rebounds per game in 2004-05 and was a preseason first team All-CAA selection for 2005-06.

Also back is shooting guard Andrew Washington, who scored 13.2 points per game, and Herb Courtney, a talented forward who missed last season after a serious knee injury.

The team includes several new players in point guard Calvin Cannon, a transfer from Palm Beach (Fla.) Community College, who will take over for Mike Slattery, combination guard Zaire Taylor and 7-foot 2-inch freshman center Matt Hewson.