Brittany Bott / Staff Photographer / bb211605@ohiou.edu

Ohio’s Asown Sayles takes a shot while Bowling Green’s Marc Larson attempts to block him in Tuesday night’s game. The ’Cats are up against George Mason at 1 p.m. tomorrow in The Convo.

Tim O’Shea and the Bobcats want your vote.

Well, in this case, a vote equals your butt sitting in The Convo when the Bobcats take on George Mason tomorrow afternoon. O’Shea and associate head coach John Rhodes have been in the dining halls this week handing out tickets and campaigning among casual sports fans for a sold-out game.

“We’re like a political candidate going for the undecideds,” O’Shea said. “We’re going to scoop up all the undecideds.”

O’Shea vouched for the enthusiasm and intensity of Ohio’s basketball crowds when he lobbied for a prime timeslot for the Bobcats’ ESPNU BracketBuster match-up against the Patriots, and like any good candidate, he wants to make good on his promise.

So why is this year any different than the past four BracketBuster games that the Bobcats have played in? For starters, ESPN2 is carrying the game, which will be the first time the network or its older sibling has broadcast from The Convo during O’Shea’s seven-year tenure.

Ohio’s “never ever had a national ESPN game” at home, O’Shea said. “We’ve had the regional games, Fox Sports. This is truly a national game. I don’t know how many people get ESPN2, but it’s a huge number. We’ve been on ESPN Classic this year, which not everyone gets.”

O’Shea’s not the only excited one though, as all of the Bobcats are looking forward to playing on a grand stage against a team that most people recognize because of George Mason’s Cinderella trip to the Final Four two years ago. And just as important, they’re glad to stay in Athens.

For last year’s BracketBuster game, Ohio spent 27 hours traveling to New Mexico State to play at 10 p.m. Mountain Time.

“Oh, it’s a lot better to be here,” Jerome Tillman said. “That was a really long trip — 2,000 miles — yeah, (calling it a) long trip’s being nice. It’s good to have them come here, we’ll get a chance to showcase our talent and show everyone what Ohio’s all about.

“Maybe we’ll get a little bit of redemption, too,” Tillman added. “A lot of people seem to think we’re not doing as well as we should have in the past few games, and this one’s going to be a great game. They’re kind of a mirror image of us.”

Granted, this game may not fully live up to its name as a bracket “buster” after both teams lost two of their past four. But with Ohio (17-9, 8-5 Mid-American Conference) trying to move up out of third place in the MAC East, it could give the Bobcats some additional momentum heading in to their final three conference games.

“At this point, if we only had three or four losses, it’d be different,” guard Bubba Walther said. “I don’t think if we win this game it will make or break anything, we still need to worry about the MAC, but it could definitely bring us and all of our fans some confidence.”

Ohio had already sold 6,376 regular tickets as of yesterday, and that number doesn’t include student tickets. But, as with all campaigns, every vote — or fan — counts.

“We’ve never filled The Convo since I’ve been here,” O’Shea said. “We’ve been close a couple times. If we’re ever going to do it, this might be the game.”