PEORIA, Ill. – Nine NCAA Division I college basketball teams won at least 30 games during the 2014-15 season and Bradley could play as many as four of those teams in Brian Wardle's first year as Braves head coach, according to the release of Bradley's 2015-16 men's basketball non-conference schedule Tuesday.
By scheduling a Nov. 28 home game versus fellow Gildan Charleston Classic participant Ole Miss inside a 14-day window of the exempt tournament, Bradley has been able to put together a 31-game regular season schedule for a fifth consecutive season. “Power 5” conference schools Ole Miss (Southeastern Conference) and TCU (Big 12) both will visit Peoria as part of Bradley's 2015-16 home schedule, a 17-game slate of preseason and regular-season games that will be played entirely at the Peoria Civic Center's Carver Arena. The 17-game season-ticket package equals the largest in Carver Arena's 34-year history, matched only by the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.
Following two home exhibition games at Carver Arena, Bradley officially will open its 112th season and the Brian Wardle coaching era Nov. 13 when the Braves start a two-year, home-and-home series against Mid-American Conference member Ball State by hosting the Cardinals at Carver Arena. The Braves will travel to Arizona to face the perennial national power Wildcats Nov. 16, then will participate in the eight-team Gildan Charleston Classic Nov. 19-20, 22 in a field that will include Virginia, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Seton Hall, George Mason, Long Beach State and Towson.
Bradley will play five of its final eight non-conference games at home, beginning with a Nov. 25 visit from New Orleans. Ole Miss will visit Nov. 28 and after hosting North Dakota (Dec. 5) and Maryville (Dec. 17), Bradley will close out its non-conference slate by welcoming Big 12 Conference member TCU to Carver Arena Dec. 23. The final three road games will be Dec. 1 at Delaware, Dec. 8 at UT-Arlington and Dec. 20 at Boise State.
Ole Miss will become the fifth “Power 5” school to make multiple visits to Carver Arena in its 34-year history, joining Michigan (1-1), Oregon State (1-1), Penn State (2-0) and Utah (0-2), although current Pac-12 Conference member Utah was a member of the Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences during its previous two visits in 2010 and 1992, while Penn State was an Atlantic 10 Conference member when the Nittany Lions first visited Carver Arena in 1983. Bradley is 10-8 all-time at Carver Arena against current “Power 5” schools (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC members), including a 70-58 win against Ole Miss Dec. 29, 1993. This year's game against the Rebels will start a 3-year series that will see the Braves visit Oxford during both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
Ole Miss is one of seven 2015 NCAA Tournament teams the Braves could face during the 2015-16 season. Arizona advanced to the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight and posted a 34-4 record last season. The Wildcats will open the 2015-16 season with a 38-game home winning streak. Among the Gildan Charleston Classic field, Virginia (30-4) is the two-time defending ACC champion and Oklahoma State earned an at-large invitation to the Big Dance out of the Big 12.
The Dec. 20 game at Boise State is part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge and matches Bradley against a Broncos squad that finished 25-9 last season, won a share of the MWC regular-season title and earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament.
The Missouri Valley will release its league schedule late in the summer and that 18-game, double round-robin slate will bring two of the nation's nine 30-game winners last season to Carver Arena this winter: Northern Iowa was 31-4 in 2014-15, while Wichita State finished 30-5.
The Bradley Athletics Ticket Office mailed men's basketball season-ticket renewal information May 15. Season-ticket renewal forms will be due back to the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office in Renaissance Coliseum by Monday, June 15. Ticket prices and season-ticket maintenance costs will not change for the 2015-16 season. Seat Change Request forms will be included with the renewal information and all seat-change requests will be processed in July. For more information or questions, contact the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office in Renaissance Coliseum at (309) 677-2625.
