Nate Kennell and the Bradley Braves celebrate after defeating Loyola-Chicago
The Bradley Braves (19-14; 9-9 in-conference) are set to take on Northern Iowa Panthers (16-17, 9-9 in-conference) in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship Game at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday afternoon.
The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET and will be televised on CBS. But if you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of CBS via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
FuboTV: CBS (live in select markets) is included in FuboTV’s main package, which includes 95-plus live TV channels and is largely tailored towards sports.
You can start a free seven-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
Amazon Prime: If you have Amazon Prime or start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch all CBS content (both live and on-demand) via the CBS Amazon Channel, which also comes with a seven-day free trial.
Once you’re signed up for both Amazon Prime and the CBS channel, you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Amazon website, or you can watch on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or other streaming device via the Amazon Video app.
Hulu With Live TV: In addition to their extensive Netflix-like streaming library, Hulu now also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including CBS (live in select markets).
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
PlayStation Vue: PS Vue — which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch — offers four different live-TV channel packages, all of which include CBS (live in select markets).
You can start a free five-day trial right here (select “Start Streaming” in the upper-right corner), and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
Northern Iowa vs Bradley Preview
The Braves entered the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed, while Northern Iowa was the field’s No. 6 seed. The MVC championship is certainly a shocker, as the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (20-13; 12-6 MVC) and Drake Bulldogs (24-9; 12-6 MVC) each earned a share of the the 2018-19 regular-season title and entered the postseason as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds respectively.
How Bradley and Northern Iowa got here:
Loyola-Chicago defeated No. 9 seed Valparaiso (defeated No. 8 seed Indiana State 77-55 on Thursday to advance), 67-54, on Friday, only to be stunned by Bradley on Saturday afternoon. Down 53-51 in the waning seconds, the Braves forced Ramblers senior guard Marques Townes to the left side of the paint, and his shot attempt hit the rim and eventually fell short. Nate Kannell finished with 19 points off the bench for the Braves to lead the team in scoring.
The Ramblers’ loss to the Braves was stunning, as they went on one of the all-time great NCAA Tournament runs last season, becoming the fourth No. 11 seed to reach the Final Four since the field expanded to 64 teams back in 1985. Complete with Sister Jean by their side, the Ramblers rattled off four consecutive victories against Miami (FL), Tennessee, Nevada and Kansas State to reach the program’s second Final Four — they won the National Championship way back in 1963, 55 years between Final Four appearances. Now, there will be no repeat attempt.
Drake stormed past Illinois State 78-62 on Friday before being ousted by Northern Iowa on Saturday night. Northern Iowa rallied down 31-28 at halftime to upset Drake, 60-58. The Panthers were led by senior guard Wyatt Lohaus, who exploded for a game-high 27 points 12-for-21 shooting despite averaging just 9.9 points per game during the regular season.
Last year’s MVC Championship Game result:
Last year Loyola-Chicago handed Illinois State its third loss in four years in the MVC Championship Game, 65-49. In 2007, the Wichita State Shockers, still a member of the MVC at the time, won the conference tournament.
Bradley and Northern Iowa split the season series, with each securing a road win. The Panthers defeated the Braves, 65-47, on January 2, while sustaining a 79-71 defeat on February 6.
NCAA Tournament History:
The Panthers have previously won the MVC regular-season title twice, in back-to-back seasons in 2009 and 2010, and conference tournament on six occasions (1990, 2004, 2009-10, 2015-16. Northern Iowa has eight NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to the second round on four separate occasions, while making the Sweet 16 as a No. 9 seed in 2010.
With a victory, the Braves could make their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since 2006 when they advanced to the Sweet 16 by knocking off Kansas and Pittsburgh consecutively as a No. 13 seed. Bradley has made the Final Four twice, finishing as the national runner-up back in 1950 and 1954.