Overexposed: Will SDSU grow tired of the BracketBusters?

(Note: I took some screengrabs from the online rebroadcast from the game Saturday. They are the pictures on the right.)

It was cool.

Saturday's BracketBusters game between South Dakota State and Buffalo, broadcasted from Brookings, S.D., nationally on ESPNU was fun. It was a two hour commercial for the Jackrabbits and the basketball program and the university, none of which stands to hurt the parties involved. The students were in rare form and the team -- not just Nate Wolters -- performed almost perfectly in the big game against a strong defensive opponent.

Based on this Scott Nagy look, you would think SDSU was down 13.

But when will it no longer to stand to be cool?

I've thought about the event now that it has passed. This story from the Washington Post basically sums up the growing thoughts against BracketBusters. 

The reality for most of the teams that took part in the 10-year event this weekend is that they have already been there and done that. As opposed to the Summit League, who participated fully as a conference for the first time this year, the Missouri Valley Conference, among others, has been doing this for a while and it disrupts a tough conference race that they have been entrenched in for two months. But at least the conference's coaches' put a good face on for it. 

For Northern Iowa, Virginia Commonwealth, St. Mary's and the numerous other schools who have already built a national brand partially through the ESPN-created event, they don't need the late break in the schedule. Not that they didn't really appreciate the challenge that it imposes or the chance to be on national television but it can be quite the ordeal and a lot of work for a game that can't benefit those teams too much. Let's be honest, the timing isn't great for the Summit League either, considering SDSU's game was exactly two weeks before their first round matchup in Sioux Falls for the conference tournament.

Does anyone have a guess at what this is?

Take for example Long Beach State. They now sit at 19-7 after a breathtaking two-point loss to Creighton in what ended up being the BracketBusters best game. Still undefeated in the Big West, they will be the odds-on favorites to the conference tournament and make the 68-team field. Even after playing Pittsburgh, Kansas and North Carolina, it is no guarantee that the 49ers make the tournament and the loss Saturday didn't help. The same situation could have played out if the BlueJays would have lost in Omaha.

Murray State will stand in the other corner. With one loss this season and a terrible non-conference schedule, the Racers (in theory) had to defeat St. Mary's to make sure that their chance for an at-large bid was safe. Add in the recent undefeated run, a terrific point guard in Isaiah Canaan and a home game with Dick Vitale in the house and it was a special day to take advantage of for the small Kentucky school and they did with a huge home win.

Reggie Witherspoon drew the looks of the officials and ESPNU.

But they are among the few to "win" on Saturday. Let's be clear: SDSU was a winner on Saturday and in a big fashion.

It's easy to forget that there are a bunch of other games that were not on TV, just random teams meeting in out-of-the-way games. Texas State at South Dakota. IUPUI at Nicholls St. Southern Utah at UC Riverside. They played the same games, without the same fanfare of ESPN, 58 games in all. The whole process ends up being a lot considering most teams have to win the conference tournament to end up making the Big Dance anyway. Oakland coach Greg Kampe has long been against the Summit League, joining in on the BracketBusters event and to make matters worse, his squad lost to Illinois State over the weekend.

Even SDSU's opponent on Saturday battled obstacles in its travels to Brookings. From the Buffalo News:

The negatives? Try getting there from Buffalo. And try getting a flight out of Sioux Falls on a Saturday (there are no late afternoon or early evening flights). So the Bulls will depart the Thursday before the game, stay in Sioux Falls, bus an hour to the campus in Brookings for practice on Friday, bus back for the game on Saturday and fly out at 6 a.m. on Sunday (they couldn't get a charter that fit their budget). All this for a non-conference tilt that falls between key MAC games at Kent State and home to Ohio. Is it at all worth it?

"We'll be on national TV. We appreciate the Mid-American Conference going to bat for us [to get a TV game]," said UB assistant coach Jim Kwitchoff. "There are certainly other schools in the MAC and other schools around the country who wish they were one of the TV games. And if the price we pay for that is a little hectic travel, we'll do it."

Could they make South Dakota look a little more desolate?

There will come a point in time (very soon if the Jackrabbits continue to have success) where they will no longer gain much from breaking the rhythm of the conference season to fly halfway across the country for a game, especially when their focus will be on winning the Summit League Tournament to get to the Big Dance. 

That time will wait. SDSU is not mentioned in the same breath as the teams above for one main reason: They haven't made the NCAA Tournament. Start making the Dance on a continued basis and you'll be viewed differently nationally. If that's happening, the break to play a non-conference game will be different as well.

Right now, television and national exposure means a lot to the Jackrabbits. Considering the way that they enjoyed the spotlight on Saturday, SDSU is probably hoping it sticks around as long as possible.