The Missouri Valley Conference has announced "wildcard" telecast selections for men's basketball games of Saturday, Jan. 17.  ESPN has selected the Bradley at Illinois State men’s basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 17, for distribution on ESPN2 or ESPNU. Network determination will occur closer to show date. The game will tip at 1 p.m. CT.  Clay Matvick (PBP) and Kevin Lehman (Analyst) will serve as the announcers.  

Illinois State enters the week as the MVC's highest-rated team in the NCAA NET rankings (55).  Illinois State is 12-3 for the first time since the 2008-09 season.  The Redbirds are 4-0 in the MVC for the first time since 2016-17 (that team they won its first 11 games of the MVC season).  And ISU is 4-0 in the conference for just the seventh time in program history.  

Bradley is 8-1 this season when allowing 70 points or less. The Braves lead the MVC in turnover margin, while guard Jaquan Johnson leads the MVC and ranks third nationally in steals per game.  Johnson (17.2 ppg, 3.25 spg) joins Bowling Green’s Javontae Campbell (17.7 ppg, 3.4 spg) and Vanderbilt’s Duke Miles (17.1 ppg, 2.8 spg) as the only players in the nation who average 17.0 points per game and 2.5 steals per game.

The teams split last year's series, with each team winning on their home court. Illinois State's win in Normal last season snapped a six-game Bradley series winning streak.  Bradley leads the all-time series, 74-66.

Network and game times were previously listed as TBA on the MVC schedule. Times and networks for the Jan. 17 "Wildcard" Saturday dates are below:

Saturday, Jan. 17
Indiana State at Murray State (ESPN+), TBA
Bradley at Illinois State (ESPN2 or ESPNU), 1 p.m. CT
UNI at Valparaiso (ESPN+), 2 p.m. CT
Drake at UIC (ESPN+), 2 p.m. CT
Belmont at Southern Illinois (ESPN+), 6 p.m. CT

During the 2025-26 season, using the wildcard model, the Missouri Valley Conference -- in conjunction with its television partners -- have reserved clearance windows for select dates throughout the season and wait until two weeks before the contest(s) to determine network clearances.