Peoria – The Bradley Braves are not yet finished.
The finalist of the 26-8 Missouri Valley conference tournament will play in the national invitation tournament, accepting an automatic offer under the new rules of the tournament.
“Everyone can be calm now,” said Bradley coach Brian Wardle, laughing. “We are going to play in the nit. We have always been. We are delighted with the competition. We turn to work tomorrow.”
THE Brave I went to nit last season and I beat Loyola in the first round to Carver Arena, then lost a second round match against Cincinnati. Two years ago, Bradley went to the nit and lost a first -round match at Wisconsin.
Bradley lost in the MVC tournament championship match on Sunday, March 9. After the match, Wardle said that “would somehow take a few days after that and reassess where we are as a team. Right now, we are too emotional to make reflections on what will happen on the road.”
Bradley should obtain a high seed in the nit support of 32 teams. Bu is planned as a seed n ° 3 by Bracketology Dratings site. The brave project to queue for a match against Penn State, Iowa, George Mason or Santa Clara. Bradley is a seed n ° 4 planned by The barking crowWhat makes them in a pod playing Colorado State in the first round. Another site In Bradley as a seeded n ° 4 welcoming Iowa in the first round.
And yes, there will be a Bradley home game, with the program working with the Peoria Civic Center for planning compatible with Carver Arena. There are a lot of mobile parts.
For example, it is possible that not all BU players participate in the nit. A player could enter the transfer portal or simply decide that he has finished his 2024-25 season. This is similar to the NCAA football culture where players offer post-season matches. The team will not know that later in the week.
How the nit landed on Bradley
The tournament will start on March 18, with the championship match scheduled for April 3, 2025, in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
A new category of auctions has been created, called “exempt teams” and Bradley falls into this category. The 16 exempt status teams are guaranteed to organize a match in the first round.
This group includes four places reserved for the two best non -NCAA tournament teams from ACC and SEC and 12 places for the best non -NCAA tournament team for each of the 12 best conferences, based on Kenpom notes. The Missouri Valley Conference is classified among these 12 best conferences, and Bradley is this best team that is not going to the NCAA.
Other ways to fill your field
• Automatic qualifiers: The champions of the regular season conference were not selected for the NCAA tournament. They must have an average classification of 125 or better on seven measures (BPI, KPI, Net, Kenpom, Sor, Torvik, Wab).
• Selections in general: Remaining points filled by the selection of the Nit Committee.
What is the university basketball crown?
The introduction of the Crown Crown tournament in 2025 of the college will have an impact on the field and the projections of the Nit.
A new event at 16 teams which will be launched from March 31 to April 6, in Las Vegas, the crown will compete directly with the nit for the teams that do not make the NCAA tournament.
The crown provides automatic entries for two teams each Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East, as well as additional selections by a committee.
It will probably attract high quality teams that could have otherwise considering the nit. But that should not be a welcome option for mid-mayors, which have an increasingly difficult task to find a house in playoffs outside the NCAA tournament.
In the coming years, the Nit field could be weakened by the crown while it contributes to these Power 5 teams.
Dave Eminian is the columnist for the Star Sports newspaper and covers Bradley Men’s Basketball, The Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve in the Eve Sports Column for pjstar.com. It can be contacted at 686-3206 or semi -istar.com. Follow it on x.com @iceTimeCleve.
This article originally appeared on Star Journal: Basketball Nit 2025: Bradley’s basketball team going to the after-season tournament
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