10:00am | There was a lot of chatter around town that the 49ers would play undefeated Murray State in their 10th Annual Sears BracketBusters basketball game, an interesting idea since the current LBSU president came here from the presidency of Murray State. Instead the destination is one that the baseball team would love to have, Omaha, Nebraska.

So now CSULB boss F. King Alexander won’t have that match up since Long Beach State will face No. 12 Creighton in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 18, in a showcase game to be televised on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. (PT). The Bluejays and 49ers will play at CenturyLink Center for the fifth all-time meeting between the schools, and first since Jan. 20, 1973.

Creighton (20-2) has won 10 straight games and is ranked 12/13 in this week’s national polls. The Bluejays are also in first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 10-1 record. Long Beach State (16-6) has won its last nine games and is 6-5 on the road this season against a gauntlet that included road games at Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina.

Two big timer scorers had the ESPN talent twittering, Creighton sophomore forward Doug McDermott, ranks third nationally with 23.5 points per game and is also among the MVC leaders in three-point percentage (.500), field goal percentage (.617) and rebounds per game (8.4).

Long Beach State is 9-0 in the Big West Conference this season and feature four double figure scorers including Casper Ware (16.8 ppg.) and Larry Anderson (15.2 ppg.) in the backcourt, T.J. Robinson (12.1 ppg., 10.2 rpg, big guy Eugene Phelps in the paint and ultra quick James Ennis where ever he wants to be.

As part of the BracketBusters contract, Creighton will play in Long Beach, Calif., at Long Beach State in 2013-14.

For the Beach, it will be their eighth game this season against a team that has been ranked in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls, including four (North Carolina, Kansas, Creighton, San Diego State) that are currently ranked. LBSU has also played Louisville and Kansas State, who both received votes in this week’s polls, as well as Pittsburgh and Xavier.

Long Beach State will be making its third BracketBusters appearance on television in the last four seasons. The 49ers hosted Green Bay during the 2008-09 season on ESPNU, before playing Montana on ESPN2 last season. LBSU is 1-1 in those games, while Creighton is 4-2 in televised BracketBusters games dating back to 2003.