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Tertiary Tournament?

Thiis year's team was flawed and quickly (poorly) put together due to our deep NIT run and loss of assistant coaches, IMO. I thought this year's team overachied and that this may have been Wardle's best coaching job in his Bradley career. I doubt we'll be selected for the NIT so I would prefer that we end the season now and focus on recruiting both juco and the portal. With a full staff and dedicated time to focus on next season I think we have a shot at a very special 2026-27 season.
 
Braves4Life said:
Thiis year's team was flawed and quickly (poorly) put together due to our deep NIT run and loss of assistant coaches, IMO. I thought this year's team overachied and that this may have been Wardle's best coaching job in his Bradley career. I doubt we'll be selected for the NIT so I would prefer that we end the season now and focus on recruiting both juco and the portal. With a full staff and dedicated time to focus on next season I think we have a shot at a very special 2026-27 season.
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I agree 100%. Wardle did a heck of a job with what he had going into this year. Losing to UT-Martin set off alarm bells, but he lit a fire under his players and made it to the second seed of the tourney and the semis. There is absolutely nothing anyone should be ashamed of re: this season.
 
Braves4Life said:
Thiis year's team was flawed and quickly (poorly) put together due to our deep NIT run and loss of assistant coaches, IMO. I thought this year's team overachied and that this may have been Wardle's best coaching job in his Bradley career. I doubt we'll be selected for the NIT so I would prefer that we end the season now and focus on recruiting both juco and the portal. With a full staff and dedicated time to focus on next season I think we have a shot at a very special 2026-27 season.
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I agree about not playing anymore this season, see which guys want to return that can and get out there recruiting. We have a lot of holes to fill and getting the right players soon is important.
 
I don't see us playing again this season...very slim chance we make NIT...I thought we had to win vs UNI to have a shot and even then we'd get a 6-seed at best. Would be very surprised if BU suited up again. And anything less than NIT is below this program's standard.
 
Believe it or not, UNI winning today gives BU an outside shot at an NIT bid. UNI likely would have gotten to NIT over BU after yesterday's win.
U never know - I'd still love to see the seniors play another time or 2.
 
tomahawk chop said:
I agree about not playing anymore this season, see which guys want to return that can and get out there recruiting. We have a lot of holes to fill and getting the right players soon is important.
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This is a good take too. I guess I just don't want the season to end, so should we decline an NIT bid, I'd be ok. But still good experience for the young guys for postseason.
 
It would take a miracle (and a lot of teams turning down invitations) for Bradley to get an invitation to the NIT. And even then, there are 4 other MVC teams with better NET rank than Bradley (Belmont, Illinois State, UIC, and Murray State).
I don't think it's likely that any of those teams turn down bids, and it doesn't seem likely the NIT would take more than 2 or 3 MVC teams, let alone 5 MVC teams.
Here are the NET ranks today (prior to today's game) for the MVC-
Belmont 63
UNI 77
ILSU 94
UIC 108
Murray St. 109
Bradley 114
SIU 120
Valparaiso 156
Drake 193
Ind. State 216
Evansville 305
 
There's really only two substantial topics remaining now that I see as holding much interest for me regarding Bradley basketball

1- recruiting/roster building for 2026-27 & beyond... we have one scholarship open for sure plus I can think of two more we likely will have
2- the slim chance of Bradley in post-season play...well known that Bradley fan base supports their team in the post-season & travels well and thus even the alphabet tournaments might look at Bradley as an option.

...sure I still have interest in who else in the MVC might play in the post-season, who else in the MVC might portal or what other results there are around the college basketball world...but that loss yesterday really tanked my interest in other games (except maybe will watch Illinois & some IHSA and maybe watch the few midmajors who play well in the NCAAT)
I've grown tired of hearing of all the 6th, 8th, 12th and 14th best teams who have losing records getting into the NCAA tourney, and the greedy P-5 guys who pay their players millions and who coerce the NCAA into letting them play NBA players who return to college.
 
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DC - I was thinking that iur 2nd place finish in the Valley would mean something to the NIT pipes, but mayne not and if it were mostly NET-based would be really tough.
I remember last season there were higher NET teams in NIT than 1/4 of teams in the NCAA tournament.
 
LittleBrave said:
DC - I was thinking that iur 2nd place finish in the Valley would mean something to the NIT pipes, but mayne not and if it were mostly NET-based would be really tough.
I remember last season there were higher NET teams in NIT than 1/4 of teams in the NCAA tournament.
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It used to, before the NCAA acquired the NIT. They also used to consider home attendance when handing out bids and deciding who got home games.
Now they claim to use the same criteria as the NCAA selection committee uses for at-large bids. I hope I'm wrong, but it probably won't factor into their decisions.
 
Da Coach said:
It used to, before the NCAA acquired the NIT. They also used to consider home attendance when handing out bids and deciding who got home games.
Now they claim to use the same criteria as the NCAA selection committee uses for at-large bids. I hope I'm wrong, but it probably won't factor into their decisions.
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Right, the NIT claims to use a combination of KenPom, NET, and other statistical measures. Based on that we really have no chance.
 
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