Will Bradley's Cinderella Season Continue?

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Mar 23, 2006 11:19PM

March Madness resumes tonight with half the Sweet 16 teams in action. The game that's likely to garner the most local attention pits the Bradley Braves against the Memphis Tigers. Can Bradley, a 13th seed, take on #1 seed Memphis and continue the unexpected run through the NCAA Tournament? Or will tonight end a magical run by a team few expected to win even one game in the tourney.

At this point, there shouldn't be any schools left that people have to ask, "Where's that?" or "What's their mascot?" While Chicagoist was born and raised in Illinois and always knew of Bradley, we suspect that, to much of the country, Bradley is lumped in with the Monmouths, Belmonts and Winthrops -- those schools with double digit seeds and an unknown location unless a friend or relative happened to attend at one point.

But this run is helping put Bradley and the Braves on the map. The school hopes the publicity of its Sweet 16 run will boost admissions and alumni donations, in addition to luring bigger name recruits to Peoria.

The Braves tip off against the Tigers tonight at 6:27 pm. Knocking off a #1 seed might be too much of a task for the mid-major team from downstate. However, few expected them to knock off Kansas or Pitt either. Maybe there's still time before the clock strikes midnight.