Bradley University Athletics

Valley Announces 2020-21 Conference Slate

2020-21 Men's Basketball Conference Schedule

Men's Basketball 9/22/2020 12:05:00 PM

The Bradley men's basketball team begins its quest for a third-straight Missouri Valley Conference Championship on New Year's Eve as the 2020-21 regular-season conference schedule was unveiled on Tuesday.

The Braves once again host all nine MVC schools during the league's traditional round-robin format. Five weekend home games highlight Bradley's conference schedule, including Saturday contests against in-state rivals Illinois State, Loyola and Southern Illinois.

A road contest at Southern Illinois on New Year's Eve opens the Valley slate for the Braves before returning to Peoria for a key matchup against Northern Iowa. Bradley's conference home opener pits the defending regular-season champion against the defending tournament champion on Sunday, Jan. 3 – a first of four Sunday matchups for BU during the Valley campaign.

The Braves then remain home for a contest with Valparaiso on Wednesday, Jan. 6 – the first meeting for the two schools since an 80-66 victory for Bradley in the 2020 Arch Madness Championship game. The Braves then hit the road for a pair of matchups at Loyola (Jan. 10) and Drake (Jan. 13) before hosting I-74 rival Illinois State on Saturday, Jan. 16 – the first weekend matchup between the two schools in Peoria since the 2011-12 campaign.

BU also hosts Southern Illinois (Jan. 23) and Indiana State (Jan. 26) in January, while making return trips to Northern Iowa (Jan. 20) and Illinois State (Jan. 31) later in the month.

Bradley begins February with a home contest against Missouri State (Feb. 3), while also welcoming Loyola (Feb. 13), Drake (Feb. 17) and Evansville (Senior Day on Feb. 27) to Peoria. BU travels to face Evansville (Feb. 6), Indiana State (Feb. 9), Valparaiso (Feb. 21) and Missouri State (Feb. 24) in the final month before postseason play.

The Braves have won back-to-back Missouri Valley Championships for the first time in school history, while also qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in consecutive campaigns for the first time since 1954 and 1955. Overall, Bradley returns six letterwinners and two starters as the team aims to become just the second program in conference history to win the MVC Tournament and NCAA automatic bid in three-straight seasons.

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