PEORIA, Ill. -- Local fans who are unable to attend Bradley men's basketball games in person will have a record number of opportunities to watch the Braves on television, according to the release of the team's 2008-09 television schedule today.  Aided in large part by the second-year partnership with local cable provider Comcast, at least 20 of Bradley's 30 regular-season games will be televised at the local, regional and national levels, and two more February games could be added to the national television package later this season.

After televising nine games last season, Comcast has agreed to broadcast 13 Bradley games in 2008-09, including all three games from Fort Myers, Fla., during the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic and five Missouri Valley Conference road games not already selected for national coverage.  The agreement with Comcast means 11 of Bradley's 13 games played away from Carver Arena will be televised and a 12th road game, the annual ESPNU BracketBusters contest Feb. 21, could be added to the national television package as part of ESPN's coverage of the event after Bradley's opponent is determined in early February.

Beginning with the season-opener Nov. 14 versus UIC, Comcast's telecasts will air locally on Channel 74, which is part of the Standard Cable package.  Comcast also is partnering with Mediacom to expand its Bradley Basketball coverage area throughout Central Illinois, as well as with Lakeshore Public Television (LPTV) to air the opener against the Flames in the Chicagoland area and with the Richmond, Va., Comcast outlet to share the Nov. 26 game against Richmond.  Bradley Hall of Famer Frank Bussone will handle the play-by-play call for the second consecutive year, but the analyst assignment is still to be determined.  Additional Comcast productions will be Nov. 24 against UMKC, Nov. 25 at Florida Gulf Coast, Nov. 26 versus Richmond, Dec. 10 versus Butler, Dec. 20 at Milwaukee, Dec. 31 at Wichita State, Jan. 3 at Missouri State, Jan. 6 versus Illinois State, Jan. 21 at UNI, Jan. 31 at Illinois State (ISU on-air talent), Feb. 14 versus Evansville and Feb. 25 at Evansville.

“We are excited to be part of this record-setting broadcast season and are grateful for the tremendous support from the business community that has helped make this increased coverage possible,” said Comcast General Sales Manager Wayne Carey.

In addition to the Comcast package, PBS affiliate WTVP (47) will add a 14th local telecast when it broadcasts the Jan. 10 men's basketball game versus Creighton.  WTVP also will broadcast four women's basketball games in 2008-09:  Jan. 9 versus Southern Illinois, Jan. 30 against Illinois State, Feb. 21 against Drake and Feb. 26 at Illinois State.

The Bradley men will make at least three appearances on the Missouri Valley Conference Network package:  Jan. 24 at home versus Indiana State, Feb. 7 at Drake and Feb. 11 at Creighton.  Those games will air on Fox Sports Midwest, FS Indiana, FS Kansas City, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Metro Sports in Kansas City.  A fourth game, Feb. 28 versus Drake, could be added as part of the MVC Wildcard Weekend when The Valley announces its ESPN and MVC-TV assignments for the regular-season finale in early February.

In addition, the road games Nov. 16 at Florida and Jan. 18 at Southern Illinois will be televised by ESPNU and the Dec. 7 contest at Michigan State will air on the Big Ten Network.  As mentioned, the Feb. 21 game in the ESPNU BracketBusters event could be selected for national coverage on the ESPN family of networks, as well as the regular-season finale Feb. 28 versus Drake.

Outside of the Peoria market, at least three Bradley home games will be televised back to the visiting team's market by their local partners:  Dec. 28 versus Southern Illinois, Jan. 28 against Wichita State and Feb. 17 against Missouri State.

The 20 planned television broadcasts of Bradley Basketball in 2008-09 are one more than the previous season-high of 19 regular-season telecasts during Hersey Hawkins' senior season in 1987-88 and represent 66.7 percent of the team's 30-game regular-season schedule.  Fox Sports Midwest and its sister affiliates FS Indiana and FS Kansas City, as well as Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Metro Sports, once again will air all six State Farm MVC Tournament quarterfinal and semifinal games and for the fourth consecutive year, CBS will televise the tournament championship game.

Bradley's official website -- www.BradleyBraves.com -- also will provide live coverage throughout the season and has permission to provide video streams of at least 21 games this year, beginning with the regular-season opener Nov. 14 versus UIC.  Fans will have the option to purchase single-game, monthly and season viewing passes.