bradley

Moments after the Bradley Braves lost the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game to Southern Illinois last Sunday, BU guard J.J. Tauai lamented that he was in for the longest week of his life.

After enduring a week filled with speculation and anxiety about the Braves' NCAA tournament fate, Tauai confirmed the week has passed as slowly as he anticipated.

"Wherever you go, everybody wants to know if you're in," he said. "I tell people I don't know more than you know. It's tough watching TV. I don't want to hear what (commentators negative toward BU and the MVC) have to say, but I listen anyway. And if I don't listen, we get an update (from teammates) at practice."

And then there's all the other conference tournaments playing out on the tube with Bradley's fate hanging in the balance. The more favorites win, the better the Braves' odds of boogying to the Big Dance.

"Cheering for a team is a lot more nerve-wracking than coaching or playing a game," said BU coach Jim Les. "The anticipation drives you crazy so I try to keep myself busy. I watch tape of us trying to find ways to improve and I've been on a couple of recruiting trips."

The waiting game ends at 5 p.m. today when CBS-TV reveals the 65-team bracket for the 2006 NCAA tournament, which begins at eight first-round sites next week.

The Braves will practice this afternoon and then gather as a team at a campus location with friends, family, university officials and media - including a CBS camera crew to record the players' reactions during the show.

If BU is selected, Les and his club will head downtown and make an appearance at the NCAA party at the Holiday Inn City Centre.

"I'm trying not to think about it too much, but I do watch a lot of the other games," said BU guard Daniel Ruffin. "If we get in, I hope we go to Florida (Jacksonville) or California (San Diego). I haven't been to either. But I'll take anyplace."

The Valley is hopeful of receiving four at-large bids to go with the Salukis' automatic berth.

But bracketology experts have generally included just four total MVC teams in the field, omitting Missouri State, which inexplicably owns the best RPI rating of any Valley school at 19.

The ISU men's basketball team will return to the court at 7:35 p.m. today to face the Bradley Braves in the first of a three-game home stand.

Read the rest of this entry ... (155 words left)