PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley's 2010-11 men's basketball schedule took a giant leap toward completion Friday with the release of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule. The combination of the 18 games in the double round-robin league schedule and the 11 non-conference games contracted to date pushes Bradley's slate to 29 games.
The 2010-11 Bradley men's basketball schedule to date is available online by visiting the athletic department's official home page, www.BradleyBraves.com. Among the schedule highlights as the Braves prepare for their 107th men's basketball season:
• Three of Bradley's four games in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament have been scheduled: Nov. 17 at home versus Loyola Marymount, followed by two-neutral-site games in Springfield, Mass., at the MassMutual Center. The Braves will take on Pac-10 Conference member Southern California Nov. 20 and either Massachusetts or New Mexico State on Nov. 21.
• The first game currently contracted on the Bradley schedule is a Nov. 16 home contest versus Northern Illinois, the night before hosting Loyola Marymount in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. The Braves have not played home games on consecutive nights since hosting the 1988 MVC Tournament and have not played regular-season home games on consecutive nights since hosting the River City Shootout Dec. 28-29, 1984. Ironically, Northern Illinois also was the first opponent in that 1984 twinbill.
• The Braves will make two trips to North Carolina in a nine-day period: Nov. 30 at Western Carolina and Dec. 8 at Duke in a matchup against the defending national champion that will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
• The game against the Blue Devils will be the first of at least eight national and regional television appearances currently planned for the Braves in 2010-11. Although ESPN has until Sept. 15 and FS Midwest until Sept. 30 to negotiate television appearances with The Valley, Bradley's schedule currently includes two ESPN2 appearances, two home dates on ESPNU and four appearances on The Valley's Fox Sports regional network. Two additional games are possible for national television exposure, but will not be determined until midseason: the annual ESPN BracketBusters game Feb. 18-20 and the regular-season finale Feb. 26 versus Drake.
• The two games in the annual Interstate 74 Rivalry versus Illinois State both will feature 7:05 p.m. tipoff times and will be played Jan. 26 at Carver Arena and Feb. 22 at Redbird Arena.
Bradley fans will get their first opportunity to see the Braves on the court Oct. 15 when the men's and women's basketball teams host a Midnight Madness style event in the University's new on-campus arena. The Braves also are working to solidify their preseason exhibition schedule.
All ticket information will be announced upon the completion of the 2010-11 schedule.
Bradley announced a Personal Seat Option ticket plan for all events in the new arena in May and the maximum 500 seats in the plan will be available to PSO owners for purchase for any men's basketball games played on campus. Individual PSO's in the arena's main seating bowl are available for $500 each, while PSO Gold seats on the arena floor are available for $1,000 each. A PSO, which includes women's basketball and volleyball season tickets, allows the owner the opportunity to purchase tickets for all events, excluding commencement ceremonies, in the new arena from Aug. 1, 2010 through July 31, 2011 in the same seats. In addition to the volleyball and women's basketball games, events available in the PSO plan to date include the Sept. 25 Weezer concert, the Midnight Madness basketball event Oct. 15 and Jay Leno's Oct. 16 Homecoming performance.
