The Bradley Braves completed the 2004-05 season with a record of 13-15 straight up, which included a Missouri Valley Conference mark of 6-12, good for ninth place in the league. Bradley finished 12-16 against the spread, and finished incredibly weak with a mark of 5-12 against the board down the stretch. Bradley, in fact, failed to get the cash in nine of their final twelve games.
Sluggish start
Bradley opened the 2005-06 season with a 75-60 win at DePaul as 5-point dogs. That was followed by a 68-58 unlined home win over Chicago State. Next came a 72-86 win at Loyola-Chicago in a pick’em affair, followed by a 93-64 home win over Bowling Green as 14.5-point chalks. But from there, it was a sluggish start for Bradley. The Bradley Braves first lost at Butler 60-70 as 4-point dogs and that was followed up with a 78-76 home win over Western Kentucky as 5-point chalks as Bradley began the year 2-3 against the spread.
Bradley Braves Upswing
Bradley next scored an unlined 68-46 home win over Delaware State and then from there enjoyed a bit of an upswing starting with a 56-43 win at Southern Mississippi as 10-point chalks. The payoffs continued starting with a 68-60 overtime home win over Northern Iowa as 1-point chalks. That was followed by a 67-69 overtime loss to Wichita State as 6-point dogs and then an 86-69 home win over Creighton as 3-point chalks for a fourth consecutive payoff as Missouri Valley Conference play heated up.
Back down
Bradley was unable to sustain success, however, starting with a 73-75 loss at Drake as 1-point chalks. That was then followed by a 55-67 win at Southern Illinois as 3-point dogs and then a 76-86 home loss to Wichita State as 5.5-point favorites for a third consecutive failure to get the cash.
Bradley Braves Up again
As is often the case with mid-major teams, however, they don’t stay up for down for very long as Bradley Braves was to prove by going up again, starting with a 90-62 home win over Evansville as 14.5-point chalks. That was then followed by a 76-80 win at Creighton as 6.5-point dogs. Next The Bradley Braves completed the 2004-05 season with a record of 13-15 straight up, which included a Missouri Valley Conference mark of 6-12 scored an 85-63 win at Indiana State as 14.5-point chalks and followed that up with an 86-76 home win over Missouri State as 3.5-point favorites.
Back in red
The up and down patter against the college basketball betting boards continued for Bradley as they went back in red starting with a 79-76 overtime win at Evansville as 8.5-point chalks. That was then followed by a 73-44 home win over Illinois State as 12-point chalks. Next came a 62-70 win at Missouri State as 5.5-point dogs and that was then followed by a 63-75 win at Indiana State as 5.5-point chalks for a third failure to get the cash in four games.
Bradley Braves Back in black
The Braves were able to pick themselves up for a strong stretch run beginning with a 71-59 win at Illinois State as 4.5-point chalks. That was then followed by a 72-60 home win over Southern Illinois as 3-point chalks. Next came a 77-62 home win over Tennessee Tech for a push as 15-point chalks. Bradley Braves was back in black with a 71-49 blowout win at Northern Iowa as 6-point dogs and then they ended the regular season with an 86-66 home win over Drake as 12.5-point chalks for a 5-0 SU and 4-0-1ATS mark to end the year.
Cinderella run
Bradley went 2-1 both SU and ATS in the MVC tournament and then beat Kansas in the first round of the NCAA tourney 77-73 as 7-point dogs. That was followed by a 72-66 win over Pittsburgh as 5-point dogs. The Cinderella run ended with a 64-80 loss to Memphis as 5.5-point dogs.