Two Missouri schools have been scheduled as part of NCAA?s BracketBuster weekend. The Missouri State Bears will host Winthrop at the Hammons Student Center on Friday, Feb. 16.

Winthrop is a member of the Big South Conference and leads the conference with an 8-0 record, 18-4 overall.

Both MSU and Winthrop have played against No. 2 Wisconsin this season. The Bears defeated the Badgers 66-64 in a semifinal game of the South Padre Island Invitational. MSU is one of only two teams (Indiana being the other) to hand Wisconsin a loss this year.

Winthrop almost added their name to the list, but fell 82-79 in overtime to the Badgers. The other three losses for Winthrop came against very good schools. The Eagles dropped games to North Carolina in the preseason NIT, at Maryland, and at Texas A&M.

The Eagles have played in the NCAA Tournament six of the past eight years.

Southeast Missouri State is the other Show-Me State team to participate in the biggest weekend for Mid-Major schools. The Redhawks will tip-off against Louisiana Tech from the Western Athletic League.

It?s pretty odd that SEMO was even scheduled for the BracketBuster considering their poor 8-15 overall record and 6-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. La. Tech isn?t much better this year 6-14, 4-4 in the WAC. Early season performances don?t suggest that either team will get much Tournament consideration.

Both teams lost to Arkansas and Centenary this season. SEMO lost at Arkansas 92-52 and lost to Centenary in Alaska 83-51. La. Tech dropped its game at Arkansas 80-50 and lost to Centenary on a neutral site 82-73.