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Bradley's 2018-19 Schedule

tornado

tornado

New member
Brian Wardle promises next year's schedule ....
"It’ll be a more challenging schedule than this year,” Wardle said. “I know that.”

but we don't know much about it yet....

Based on what we can extrapolate from last year's opponents...

Non-Conference:
-Home game vs. Chicago State (with probably another one in 2019)
-Home game vs. SEMO
-Home game vs. Eastern Illinois?*
-Away game vs. IUPUI
-Away game vs. Georgia Southern
-reports of a November Tourney
-Home game - MVC/MWC Challenge- TBD - (the series was said in 2015 to be "Renewed" & had been a 4-year deal from 2009-2013, so that would mean we will play thru 2018)
*There is a report of a home game with EIU but I have never seen that confirmed as a 2-for-1

Conference:
-18 game Conference schedule then MVC Tournament in March 2019

Has anyone heard anything else?
 
I remember seeing a tweet, at the beginning of the season, from Coach Wardle to Gregg Marshall, after Marshall had belittled Bradley. BW extended an invitation to Marshall for a game and mentioned there were four open dates on BU's schedule (if I remember correctly).

Two are the dates from the now completed two-for-ones against Delaware and Mississippi. I suppose the game against Little Rock would be the third date. What school did BU play in 2017-18 that is not appearing on next year's schedule? This would be the fourth date.
 
Nothing new on Bradley's schedule for next year...

...but one prediction on my part- I predict Wichita will NEVER schedule any MVC team despite the big talk...
Remember - Marshall and the Wichita folk thought they were gonna WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in 2018 (LOL)
...they didn't even win their 1st round game!! ...and they quipped about
how their schedule was really tough and mocked Bradley as being a low RPI team they wanted to avoid... LINK

.... heck, with Kelly, Brown, Nurger, Willis, Shaq Morris & Conner Frankamp all graduating - (Frankamp is their MVC, he won plenty of games for them this year)
PLUS if Shamet leaves for the NBA and McDuffie & Reaves have another under productive year -
then maybe Wichita is in for a big dropoff and we don't necessarily want them on our schedule...
time will tell but just maybe their RPI is gonna be worse next year than ours!!


and ...I suppose we should have a separate thread for the other MVC teams' schedules...

but one aspect of ISU's schedule has been known since last November...
they will play in a tournament in Cayman Islands with St. Bonaventure, Clemson, Georgi, Boise State, Akron & Creighton

UNI is playing in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam - https://www.bloggingthebracket.com/...vents-mte-neutral-site-showcases-thanksgiving

Missouri State is playing in the Hall of Fame Classic in KC, MO- https://www.bloggingthebracket.com/...vents-mte-neutral-site-showcases-thanksgiving

Indiana State plays in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic- http://espnevents.com/diamond-head-classic/
 
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Dan Muller had some interesting comments about their schedule in the Vidette..
he basically said why bother....
"We currently have some really good games on the schedule next year. It’s going to be challenging for sure…
part of me looks and says 'What’s the point?'

If it doesn’t help you get in the NCAA tournament, which basically the committee tells you to play good games
but they don’t really care in the end, then what is the point? Next year’s schedule will be difficult
and we have the team to do it, but I am going reexamine our scheduling philosophy moving forward."

so it sounds like he's just gonna return to scheduling soft and just winning as many games as he can..


He also said they are looking to sign ...
"a guard that can shoot and some size inside" and mainly looking to sign juco kids...
 
story on SIU's schedule next year
http://thesouthern.com/sports/colle...cle_cf1dfdcb-f7c4-5163-a14c-829b24504e78.html

11 of their 13 non-conference games are already set...
Here's what's known about those 11 games....

-SIU has contracts to host Winthrop, Murray State and Saint Louis in return games from last season
-They play Southeast Missouri State and SIU-Edwardsville on the road
-SIU has committed to a return trip to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas around Thanksgiving that will give them FOUR games - two opponents at home and two in Las Vegas- yet to be determined - but they might have very little to say about who is chosen (they got Lamar & NC A&T last year - two bad teams that hurt their RPI and may have cost them an NIT bid) and one could be a non-DI
-they plan to play a non-Division I team at home (they played UIS this past year)
-they get a road game in the Missouri Valley-Mountain West Conference Challenge (they 311 RPI San Jose State last year, again really damaged their NIT chances)

for the remaining two - they are attempting a "buy game" in order to play a highly ranked opponent on the road (Cincinnati and Xavier are mentioned as possibles)
and they want a decent opponent for a home-and-home series (Western Kentucky & Middle Tennessee State are mentioned as possibles)
 
Valparaiso announces they will play in the 2018 Myrtle Beach Invitational - November 15, 16 and 18, 2018.
(this is the same tourney that was previously called the Puerto Rico Tip-Off but was moved to Myrtle Beach last year due to hurricanes, and turned out to be successful.

There's a nice array of teams - Valparaiso, Cal State Fullerton, Saint Joseph’s, UCF, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Western Kentucky plus an 8th team to be announced later
ESPN will sponsor and broadcast the games.

https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/984137369212334080
 
Bradleys Schedule

Bradleys Schedule

Many other MVC teams seem to be able to schedule pre-season tournaments that have higher level Divn. l teams. We don't seem to be doing this and as a result we are ending up with a weak pre-season schedule against low level teams. Strong schedules better prepare us for the season, help home attendance, and help recruiting. Cummon Chris & Brian, Lets beef up our schedule as we build the BU Basketball Program. To not do so will only hurt us in the long run.
Wizard
 
wizard said:
Many other MVC teams seem to be able to schedule pre-season tournaments that have higher level Divn. l teams. We don't seem to be doing this and as a result we are ending up with a weak pre-season schedule against low level teams. Strong schedules better prepare us for the season, help home attendance, and help recruiting. Cummon Chris & Brian, Lets beef up our schedule as we build the BU Basketball Program. To not do so will only hurt us in the long run.
Wizard
Click to expand...

Coach W and Coach Simmons appear to have same mindset. Schedule soft in non con and hope to get some cheap early wins to build confidence. Hope UE's new coach changes that.
 
Great find 64!! Thanks -




Non-Conference:
November 28, 2018 - Wednesday Bradley @ IUPUI
-Home game vs. Chicago State (with probably another one in 2019)
-Home game vs. SEMO
-Home game vs. Eastern Illinois?* - *There is a report of a home game with EIU but I have never seen that confirmed as a 2-for-1
-Away game vs. Georgia Southern
-reports of a November Tourney
-Home game - MVC/MWC Challenge- TBD - (the series was said in 2015 to be "Renewed" & had been a 4-year deal from 2009-2013, so that would mean we will play thru 2018 )


Conference:
-18 game Conference schedule then MVC Tournament in March 2019
 
Loyola will be in the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase in 2018 (same tourney Bradley was in last year)
Loyola's presence makes this a decent tourney for the other 7 teams..but...

Here are the eight teams and their final 2017-18 RPI's:
Loyola Chicago 14
Georgia Southern 143
Towson 154
Miami (OH) 170
North Dakota State 214
Florida Atlantic 269
Pepperdine 313
Incarnate Word 348
it actually is a pretty weak tourney for Loyola - they could get 3 teams with RPI's in the 200-300's


https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/986298495907885056
 
Bradleys weak schedule

Bradleys weak schedule

ISU is playing in the Cayman Island tournament which is very strong. Bradley doesn't appear to be in any pre-season tournaments as yet. IMO, this puts us at a great disadvantage going into the MVC season next year. Our schedule is very weak while several MVC teams have beefed up their schedules and are playing in strong tournaments. This does not help our program grow and is beginning to show that BU is a weak/lower level Mid-Major.
Somehow, we must find a way to schedule better teams. Scheduling may be hard but other MVC programs are finding ways to strengthen their schedules. Why can't we?
Game attendance will be down, local media will not cover BU as much, our national reputation will diminish, and recruiting will be tougher. Wake up Chris & Brian....Your scheduling is hurting us!
Wizard
 
wizard said:
ISU is playing in the Cayman Island tournament which is very strong. Bradley doesn't appear to be in any pre-season tournaments as yet. IMO, this puts us at a great disadvantage going into the MVC season next year. Our schedule is very weak while several MVC teams have beefed up their schedules and are playing in strong tournaments. This does not help our program grow and is beginning to show that BU is a weak/lower level Mid-Major.
Somehow, we must find a way to schedule better teams. Scheduling may be hard but other MVC programs are finding ways to strengthen their schedules. Why can't we?
Game attendance will be down, local media will not cover BU as much, our national reputation will diminish, and recruiting will be tougher. Wake up Chris & Brian....Your scheduling is hurting us!
Wizard
Click to expand...

It's not as easy as it sounds... Especially when you were one of the worst programs in DI RPI wise just a short 2 years ago. Hopefully we can return to playing some of these bigger names in the coming years but I don't think it's as easy as just calling up John Calapari or Coach K.
 
Non Con Schedule

Non Con Schedule

When you are a doormat, the BCS schools will play you, if you travel to them. Once you are out of the basement and a 20 win mid major, they are very hesitant to play you for fear of being knocked off, affecting their RPI.
 
Anyone who doubts it's hard for good midmajors to schedule...

"Loyola has become the IRS of college basketball ??” everybody fears it. NC
State paid $175,000 (buyout) to avoid playing the Ramblers..."

"Loyola then contacted 50 high-major schools, asking for a ???buyout??? game, the
kind that financially favors the home team. Only one said yes: Florida. You
might remember how that turned out: Ramblers 65, Gators 59.

Now it??™s even harder for Loyola to get a game."
 
tornado said:
Anyone who doubts it's hard for good midmajors to schedule...

"Loyola has become the IRS of college basketball ??” everybody fears it. NC
State paid $175,000 (buyout) to avoid playing the Ramblers..."

"Loyola then contacted 50 high-major schools, asking for a ???buyout??? game, the
kind that financially favors the home team. Only one said yes: Florida. You
might remember how that turned out: Ramblers 65, Gators 59.

Now it??™s even harder for Loyola to get a game."
Click to expand...

NCAA are you hearing this??? You need to correct this. All the mid-majors need to get together and confront the NCAA. They could change this if they wanted
 
Breaking news ....and good news on our schedule!

Bradley will host New Mexico in the MVC/MWC Challenge
Here's the link to their beat writer (Albuquerque Journal)



Non-Conference:
November 28, 2018 - Wednesday Bradley @ IUPUI
-Home game vs. Chicago State (with probably another one in 2019)
-Home game vs. SEMO
-Home game vs. Eastern Illinois?* - *There is a report of a home game with EIU but I have never seen that confirmed as a 2-for-1
-Away game vs. Georgia Southern & maybe UALR
-reports of a November Tourney
-Home game - MVC/MWC Challenge- New Mexico at Bradley


Conference:
-18 game Conference schedule then MVC Tournament in March 2019

Hey- it's been 15 years but it's never too late for a little payback!
 
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