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Next game: Bradley vs. North Central College, Sunday, Dec. 14, 1:00 pm

Da Coach

Da Coach

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Bradley's next game will be Sunday, Dec. 14 at 1:00 pm against North Central College of Naperville, Illinois.
The game is on ESPN+
ESPN+- Direct link- https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/7a4384e7-f14d-476b-a200-ce9a5805d1eb
Chat room- https://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans
Live Stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
WMBD radio - https://wmbdradio.com/player/?playerID=2045

North Central is a Division III program that competes in the CCIW (Collegiate Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), a 9-team conference of D3 colleges that includes Illinois Wesleyan and Milliken Universities.
Info on CCIW- https://cciw.org/stats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2025
Bradley has only played North Central twice in their history, when both were members of the old IIAC (Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)
Dec. 12, 1926- Bradley won at North Central in Naperville, 51-27
Dec. 20, 1929- Bradley won, beating North Central in the Peoria Armory, 42-15

North Central College was 15-12 last year, and 7-9 in the CCIW.
The CCIW Preseason Poll had North Central picked 7th in the 9-team CCIW.
The men's basketball team reached the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen in 2012, and the Final Four in 2013.
This season, so far, they are 2-4, and 1-1 in conference games. They lost at Millikin University, and they beat Illinois Wesleyan at home.
They have one scheduled game before they visit Bradley. They play a CCIW conference game on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 4:15 pm against North Park University in Chicago, less than 24 hours before they play Bradley on Sunday afternoon.
Schedule/results- https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Roster- https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2025-2026
North Central historical record- https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/2009/5/6/MBB_0506091545.aspx?id=336

Their roster lists 21 players, but only 15 have seen playing time, so far. -
As is common for many D3 schools, they do not have much size. Their tallest player is 6'8" junior Ethan Marlowe (4.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg), who is from St. Charles North HS, which is the same school that produced former Bradley player Connor Linke. In fact, Marlow was the backup center behind Connor Linke for Linke's junior and senior seasons at St. Charles North. Their leading scorer and rebounder through 6 games is 6'3" sophomore guard Alejandro Diaz (12.5 ppg & 6.7 rpg).

Bradley stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats
MVC stats- https://mvc-sports.com/documents/2025/11/4//2025_26_MVC_MBB_All_Game_Stats.pdf
 
A couple other notes about this game-
This game is at the Renaissance Coliseum, and it is not included in the season-ticket package.

Tickets- good tickets still available-
Tickets are now available on Ticketmaster-
www.ticketmaster.com

Bradley Braves Men's Basketball vs. North Central College Men's Basketball Tickets Dec 14, 2025 PEORIA, IL | Ticketmaster

Buy Bradley Braves Men's Basketball vs. North Central College Men's Basketball tickets at the Renaissance Coliseum in PEORIA, IL for Dec 14, 2025 at Ticketmaster.
www.ticketmaster.com www.ticketmaster.com
Tickets can also be purchased at the Bradley ticket office at the Renaissance Coliseum - or by calling 309-677-2625
Students are free, but must claim their ticket in advance- check here- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2025...oops-on-the-hilltop-mens-basketball-game.aspx

Also, Bradley will be wearing the new special "Hilltop" jerseys, and limited-edition Hilltop merchandise will be exclusively on-site at Renaissance Coliseum on game day.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1982915359393861659

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Nice jerseys - about the only interest I have in this particular game and since I will not be attending in person.
 
I wish I understood why we're playing a mediocre (and I feel I'm being generous) DIII team.

I'm assuming (hoping) Brian will start the JV or Freshman team and not risk getting any of the "real" starters injured.

The soccer team played DIII Millikin this season and gained one of their two wins this season with 4-nil drubbing.

I'm hoping this "trend" of non-D1 crossover games is a (quickly) passing fad.
 
I see this as being a glorified scrimmage/exhibition game that keeps the guys somewhat fresh during the two week break for finals. I’ve spoken with several season ticket holders that aren’t happy about a game being added that wasn’t part of the package. I agree. Especially when it takes place on campus.
 
I think every MVC team played at least one non-D1 opponent this year, and many D1 schools do each year. And some played more than one.
This game was added late to the schedule, and because it is being played in the smaller Renaissance Coliseum, it was not possible to make it part of the season ticket package. I haven't heard any complaint from other season ticket holders I know, though some do not plan to attend, not because it required buying an additional ticket, but because of the bad weather expected for this weekend, and the weak opponent. I expect the crowd to be small. But Bradley did put it on the ESPN+ schedule, so everyone should be able to watch it online.
 
As everyone probably knows, the weather between now and Sunday's game is predicted to dump several more inches of snow on the Peoria area Saturday, and then drop temperatures Saturday night to 5 or 6 degrees below zero. By game time, the temperature will still be in the low single digits. So Hopefully, everyone stays safe.
I have heard from some ticket holders that they do not plan to go because of the weather.
So I want to suggest if any members of Bradleyfans have tickets they don't plan on using, post about it here and maybe via Private Messages you can connect with another fan, get their email info and forward your tickets to someone who might be able to go.
 
The snow should be cleaned off the main roads by Sunday at game time. As for the weather temperature wise, yes it will be a bit chilly. Not too cold for this fan. Remember years ago when the temperature was really cold and with the wind made it around -50 below. It was Bradley vs Tulsa. Must have been an important game as far as the standings. I can remember it was a near sell- out. Dedicated fans me and the group that went to the game in those conditions. Great memories of days gone by.
 
Weak opponent, cold weather, wrong venue, blah blah blah. It’s Bradley Basketball. We show up and support our team better than anyone in the Valley. Get your butts to the game.
 
You can always record the Bears game and watch it later. What I always have to do because of grandkids over on Sundays. Just an option if you wish to do it that way.
 
BU freak said:
Maybe don’t schedule an awful, D3 opponent directly against a Chicago Bears game. Pathetic.
Click to expand...
To be fair nobody expected the Bears to be this good this year.

But I agree, playing a D3 opponent on a Sunday? Also not included in the season ticket package? I love that they are playing a game on campus, but it should have been a conference game.
 
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