For those who have a subscription here is a pretty good overview about the rise and fall of the event.

https://theathletic.com/1920107/

Personally, I always thought this was a great event, and great for the conference.

But after reading this it dawned on me that while the MAC consistently had at-large NCAA Tournament teams 'before' the 2003 start of Bracket Buster (the last in 1999 - Miami) ... the MAC as we all know has not had an at-large since then.

Particularly in the early 2000s there were several strong MAC teams that never got an at-large whiff including that 2000 Kent State team, both Ball State and Bowling Green in 2002 and Buffalo (OU tip-in) I believe in 2005???. There are probably a couple of Akron teams over the years that could make an argument as well.

WMU hoops fans will say that our bracket-buster game vs. College of Charleston (2004) was one of the best events in the arena. (Our 17th consecutive win at home)

At 0:20 in this clip was the loudest the place might've ever been. Oh, to have that energy and buzz in the program back again...

And I always thought it wasn’t worth it. It was the big boys chance to sit back and watch mid-majors beat each other up and spread the Ls around while they refused to play us.