BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) -- ESPN has reached a multi-year agreement with several top conferences to present "Bracket Buster Saturday," a one-day, nine-game men's event matching potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other.

Gonzaga, a Sweet 16 team three of the last four years, Tulsa, Kent State, Fresno State and Southern Illinois are among the 18 teams participating in the inaugural event on February 22, 2003.

The "Bracket Buster Saturday" concept, named because of the success of these teams in NCAA Tournament play over the past few years, will provide participating teams with an opportunity to play top non-conference opponents three weeks prior to Selection Sunday.

The field will feature four teams each from the Mid-American Conference, Missouri Valley Conference and Western Athletic Conference and three from the Horizon League, plus Cal-Santa Barbara from the Big West Conference, Western Kentucky from the Sun Belt Conference and Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference.

"This will be a tremendous opportunity for the teams to receive some national exposure prior to the NCAA Tournament," said WAC commissioner Karl Benson. "College basketball fans across the country will get the chance to see some great non-conference matchups that are not normally played at this time of year and to watch the outstanding players and coaches from those teams."

While each conference selects their participating teams months prior to the start of the season, the matchups for "Bracket Buster Saturday" will be determined and announced approximately three weeks before the event.

Gonzaga, Kent State, Southern Illinois, Creighton, Illinois-Chicago, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Western Kentucky and Cal-Santa Barbara will be the host teams in the 2003 event. The visiting teams are Tulsa, Fresno State, Ball State, Bowling Green, Detroit, Hawaii, Illinois State, Northern Iowa and Wisconson-Milwaukee.

The only predetermined game will feature Tulsa, which reached the Elite Eight in 2000, at Gonzaga.