Final: Bradley 80 Eureka 38

[Da Coach]

Next game: Eureka College at Bradley, Thursday, Dec. 18 at 7:00 PM at Carver Arena. There is not broadcast TV for this game.

Bradley is 3-6 after losing 4 of the last 5 games.
Eureka College is a Division III school and they play in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. They were 5-20 last year, and they are 2-3 so far this year. They played against 1 other D1 school this season. They played at Eastern Illinois and lost by 30 points (81-51).
They have already played 2 conference games and are 1-1 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. They are coached by Chip Wilde, and this is his 8th season. They have only 1 Assistant Coach, Amos Arbogast.

Eureka basketball website-

http://eurekareddevils.com/index.aspx?path=mbball

Schedule/results-

http://eurekareddevils.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball

Roster-

http://eurekareddevils.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball

Eureka stats-

http://eurekareddevils.com/documents/2014/12/8//teamcume.htm?id=477

Bradley stats-

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209766930&DB_OEM_ID=3400

[tornado]

Season ticket holders will know this but others may not....

Bradley just began a new promotion, where every season ticket holder gets a FREE TICKET VOUCHER for any upcoming game...
they can use the voucher to obtain an upper bowl seat for any future game...so that should nicely boost the attendance at several of the next home games at Carver Arena.
It will also, almost certainly, help to avoid an embarrassing drop in home attendance figures to less than 5000 during the holidays when people and students are out of town.

[Vent]

Who cares about this game? Does this fall under the State of Illinois lemon law. This game is a joke. Nothing against Eureka, as it is a fine small private college. This is all against BU. And to include this game in the season ticket package is a sham. Ford and Cross should lose their jobs over this farce. Oh yes, they will spin it to look like they're coming off finals and other schools do the same thing. Nothing can be gained by a game like this. If you win you didn't win by enough. If you lose....how do you spin that. You improve your program by playing Division I schools. Oh I forgot, if you play Division III schools you get beat. Remember Augustana this preseason? I wonder how many phone calls they'll take on WMBD radio tomorrow morning, from fans that may have questions about the program. Oh I forgot about that also....none. ISU is playing DePaul tonight. We are getting ready for Eureka. Ladies and gentlemen.....there is your difference in programs. Are you satisfied?

[LongTimeFan]

The one thing that might benefit Bradley is allowing Sutherland to get some actual game experience before Vegas. I look forward to seeing him in the Vegas games. I just wish the games weren't during the day as my wife wants to do some shopping.

[tornado]

wonder if there's any chance our guys will be thinking -
Hey - this is just Eureka - we got this one in the bag...
Sure hope not...

[Buesch N Chips]

No win situation. The fans will either be upset because it will be so lopsided or upset because it will be close.

[molar50]

I hope not. Eureka College should be relaxed playing here. There is no pressure on them to win. We have had some bad losses this season and we should be focused to play.

[Chico]

wonder if there's any chance our guys will be thinking -
Hey - this is just Eureka - we got this one in the bag...
Sure hope not...

Wonder if Michigan will ever think that way again.

[tornado]

the fact that we actually chose a far better & more familiar opponent (CMU) for the game at Ren-Col & this one (vs. an exhibition-caliber opponent)
is being played at Carver Arena has to make me think that this was done for a purpose - to make the Ren-Col look good with a big crowd
while making the very next game at Carver look bad..
thus strengthening an argument that we ought to just play them all at R-C.

[Chico]

the fact that we actually chose a far better & more familiar opponent (CMU) for the game at Ren-Col & this one (vs. an exhibition-caliber opponent)
is being played at Carver Arena has to make me think that this was done for a purpose - to make the Ren-Col look good with a big crowd
while making the very next game at Carver look bad..
thus strengthening an argument that we ought to just play them all at R-C.

Being so close, Eureka might bring a good crowd which might help the attendance.

[tornado]

maybe but Eureka only draws 200 to their home games

http://eurekareddevils.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=2081

[Vent]

I think the reason they are playing the Eureka game at the civic center is plain and simple. If they played this game at the Ren-Col there would be 500-1,000 people attend. That would be a horrible embarrassment for the university, as they could not pad the attendance, with people that bought tickets and were no shows. Most season ticket holders will not go to games on campus...period. The attendance figures don't lie. They had no choice but to play this game at the civic center where it would be included in the season ticket package. This way they can say there were 5,000 people at the game, when you count about 4,500 season tickets and maybe a walk up sale of 500 (mostly Eureka fans). I bet there will not be 5,000 actual butts in the seats for this game, but closer to 4,000 at best.

[bu fan 9]

This game shows how far Bradley basketball has fallen.

[Vent]

Previous coaches and athletic directors would have been driven out of town with this schedule. Could you imagine Ron Ferguson or Ken Kavinaugh scheduling a game like this? They would not even entertain the thought. Division II or Division III maybe for a preseason exhibition game. But never an NAIA team.

[tornado]

but Vent , the only way the attendance looked good for the Central Michigan game is because it WAS included in the
season ticket package for just about everyone - thus nearly every season ticket holder bought a ticket and it was counted in the attendance.
They could thus also draw 4300 for Eureka but a lot would be no-shows...
This way if a lot stay home and the Civic Center looks terribly empty for the Eureka game - I guarantee it will draw comments of "you see - the atmosphere is so much better and we draw so much better at Ren-Col".

Lastly - some fans, like myself, would continue to come to ALL the Bradley games no matter where they played them - even ICC's gym..
and I will be there even on a terribly snowy day like we had once when only about 200 people were there...
AND I will even be there for the Eureka game, the Augustana game, and the Platteville game...no matter who they play...I will be there.

BUT I doubt there are all that many fans like me in that regards - especially confirmed by looking at the stands lately...
So here's what I suggest...work to get those fans back that you have lost!
Stop suggesting if they only buy upper bowl tickets that it doesn't help the University - as if you don't give a dang about anyone who sits up there whether they come or not.
Try listening to your customers - the ones who stopped buying tickets because the schedule is lousy or because the quality of play is bad...
I know it sounds like a completely foreign idea but try doing what BU has always done so well until just the past few years - and Wichita does it and Creighton does it...
put a GOOD, exciting talented team on the floor, schedule teams that matter, and score at least 50 points and win.
Think about it - it'll sink in - it's not all that strange of an idea.
The solution is NOT to overspend and stack the coaching staff with inexperienced personnel - not one of which has ever seen a team go to the NCAA.
Stop throwing all our recruiting marbles into one basket & hope a few Mac Irvin players is all we need, and stop looking to downgrade, downsize, and underachieve then say it's really better for the fans...because most know better and most are not coming any more...