Next game- Bradley at Tulsa, Monday 3/31 at 7 pm

[ph]

Will this game be on Fox Sports Midwest?

If it's not, then the CBI just cemented itself as a 3rd rate toureny with it's TV coverage. Any post season tourney championship not on a basic cable/satellite channel, at least regionally, is not big time. If the CBI wants to maintain it's Fox relationship next year then they need to either get the CBI final 4 on FOX national OTA or, at least FX.

Personally I think the CBI got many really, really good games out of this tourney and hope it grows, but they still have a ton of work to do in regards to TV coverage. These games need to be seen by more of the nation!

[dogsrus]

Pretty good analysis, though I disagree with the conclusion, of course.

I would add that Ray Reese really came on late in the year. He was a bench guy and a bit of an anomaly until Wojcik put him in the starting lineup. Granted, Houston's star put 30 on him, but Reese held him to the 30% range. He's a good defensive player.

Totally agree about McDade. He's really hit or miss. I've been critical most of the year, but he has had his moments.

Uzoh plays good D.

The problem is that we just don't have much depth. We have eight scholarship players. We had twelve at the beginning. One is redshirted. Another guy -- who started the year at point guard -- quit the team because of family problems. Two guys are out with injuries. We've played a walk-on at times, and he's not even really able to practice at all because he's hurt. (The walk-on just gets garbage minutes, but still.)

Of the eight we have, only seven really play. Andrews, a freshman, was great early in the year but hit a wall and isn't playing D our way.

Teams with shooters give us fits, if you saw what Memphis did to us. They do have bigs, too, but after watching them a lot this year, I think they are really a perimeter team. Of the teams we played in the CBI, I think Bradley is the first that will have more than two legitimate scorers. Miami's leading scorer was out, Utah really only had two good players, and Houston runs this goofy system and has basically one one or two guys.

It should be a good one.

Gold appreciate your insight and lack of smack speak....obviously you're not of Kansas decsent Should be a good game....we are still troubled at how you guys got the seed over us but it is what it is.

[Gold]

Gold appreciate your insight and lack of smack speak....obviously you're not of Kansas decsent Should be a good game....we are still troubled at how you guys got the seed over us but it is what it is.

We've got no reason to talk smack with you guys . . . though inevitably our board will push the envelope. It's all meant in good fun, though. Just try to appreciate the humor if you read our board.

Seriously, I don't think anyone has anything but positive memories of the Valley (other than the officiating our last year). This tournament has been old home week for us; we got to play Utah (we really don't like them because of the Mountain West thing) and Houston (lots of bad blood there, mostly in football and economics). I think our players, fans, and coaches need a weekend to cool off, to be honest.

[it's boogie time]

Gold, would it be fair to generalize this Golden Hurricane's team as being a very good home team (16-2) and a bad road team (3-10)?

Somehow, Bradley is going to have to win a road game. Most years, that would seem almost impossible against a quality opponent. However, the program has started becoming competitive on the road (7-7) and has some quality wins and near misses. They have also laid some eggs on the road. It'll be fun to see if Bradley can pull one of these games out on the road.

[Gold]

We are definitely better at home.

Tulsa has been hot for the last sixteen games, 13-3. Two of those losses were at Memphis (nothin you can do) and one was at UAB, where we led at the half and were competitive until the end.

All that said, we just aren't all that great on the road. We struggled out of the gate in CUSA, losing at UTEP, UCF, Marshall, and Houston. We also had blowout losses this year at OU and ORU.

Ever since we played Memphis at home in mid-January, this team has turned a corner. But, I fully expect that if we win Monday it will be a three game series.

[Tulsa Brave]

Vegas has Tulsa favored by 3.5.

[Scouter]

Will this game be on Fox Sports Midwest?

My guess is Fox Sports Midwest will have a replay on of the Cardinals' Opening Day game.

[dogsrus]

Gold, would it be fair to generalize this Golden Hurricane's team as being a very good home team (16-2) and a bad road team (3-10)?

Somehow, Bradley is going to have to win a road game. Most years, that would seem almost impossible against a quality opponent. However, the program has started becoming competitive on the road (7-7) and has some quality wins and near misses. They have also laid some eggs on the road. It'll be fun to see if Bradley can pull one of these games out on the road.

I think our "eggs" have been layed at home.....early when DR was down and we hadn't learned how to play without him (having to sub a 5th year senior with a freshman) we played a few very poor games.

There was NO reason to lose even without Danny.

Now home is once again ours and we can battle almost anyone on the road.....being healthy has its rewards.

[it's boogie time]

I think our "eggs" have been layed at home.....

I'll agree with that. The 9 first half points to Northern Iowa and the loss to Wichita State at home certainly stand out. It is hard to believe that Bradley lost 5 in row at home at one point.

I just wanted to balance out the road part of my post so it didn't sounds like I thought BU was some juggernaut on the road. The opening game loss to UIC and the dissappointing loss to Indiana State is what I was thinking about when I reffered to laying eggs.

[2bradleyfans]

Can someone give me a "heads up" on why it was that Tulsa left the Valley?

[Tulsa Brave]

Can someone give me a "heads up" on why it was that Tulsa left the Valley?

Mainly for football reasons.

[ifarania]

What is the economic rivalry with Houston? A smidge off topic, but just curious.

[Gold]

What is the economic rivalry with Houston? A smidge off topic, but just curious.

Tulsa was once called the "oil capital of the world." A lot of big oil companies either started or were based here. With oil bust of the 80's, a lot of our companies were either bought or just moved to Houston. A lot of people around Tulsa actually work there, even to this day. As a result, there's some bad blood. Houston fans rub it in our nose a lot.

The football part has to do with us beating them in the first college game played in the Astrodome and them later beating us 100-6 (team was sick, tried to forfeit . . . largely regarded as one of the worst examples of sportsmanship ever). We hadn't played them in anything in years and there was instant internet hatred when we joined CUSA.

[Gold]

Mainly for football reasons.

That's pretty much it. With D1a changing in the late 80's/early 90's, TU couldn't survive as an independent and needed a league. We got into the 16 team version of the WAC, but were really far behind in facilities and everything else. I think there was an initial attempt to get into CUSA, but our other sports were way behind.

We stunk it up in football, then the Mountain West split off and we were left in this weird conference that eventually included Louisiana Tech, Rice, Fresno State, and Hawaii. With the success of basketball and the depths football had fallen to, there was serious talk of dropping football altogether. We're the smallest school in D1a/FBS.

In the mean time, football got its act together, we built an on campus basketball arena, all the non-revenue sports improved, and we made plans to renovate the football stadium (construction is happening now). We got into CUSA, which is really the next best thing to the Valley for us -- easy travel, attractive destinations (Dallas, Orlando, Memphis, New Orleans), and some good programs (not Rice . . . many of us hate Rice, as you'll see).

I think we stayed in the Valley in soccer up until the last couple of years . . . maybe in a couple of other sports, too.

[2bradleyfans]

very informative, thankyou.