Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge Series Debuts with BYU-Bradley

TheMWC.com

WEB

Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge Series Debuts with BYU-Bradley

Cougars host Braves in first of nine challenge series games

Nov. 12, 2009

Preseason favorite BYU opens the 2009-10 men's basketball season Friday night by welcoming Bradley in the inaugural game of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge Series. The contest is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. MT and will be televised on The Mtn.-MountainWest Sports Network.

Five other Mountain West teams open Friday as TCU hosts Mid-American Christian (7 p.m. CT), Utah welcomes Idaho (7 p.m. MT), Wyoming entertains South Dakota State (7:30 p.m. MT) and Air Force hosts Western State (8 p.m. MT). Colorado State opens the season at the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament in Eugene, Ore., where the Rams will square off against UC Davis in opening-round action.

Friday's contest between BYU and Bradley matches two of the winningest programs in the history of college basketball. BYU ranks 19th nationally with 1,578 victories, while Bradley is 25th with 1,537 all-time wins. The host Cougars have won their last two meetings with the Braves to take a 2-1 lead in the all-time series, although the two programs have not met since Dec. 17, 1977 in Peoria.

The 2009 Challenge Series is the first in a four-year agreement between the Mountain West and Missouri Valley Conferences. Nine Challenge Series games will be played each year, and each conference will host a total of 18 games over the four-year period. The Challenge will feature head-to-head competition between nine Mountain West and nine Missouri Valley teams annually. Evansville, by virtue of finishing the 2007-08 MVC regular season in 10th place, will be the Valley team that does not participate in the 2009 Challenge Series. In keeping with the overall objective of the Challenge, match-ups for the first year are based in part on 2008-09 pre-season rankings and RPI rankings from the previous year, or RPI rankings from the preceding three-year period.

Below is a listing of the 2009-10 MWC/MVC Challenge Series contests:

DATE	GAME	TIME	SERIES / LAST MEETING
Nov. 13	Bradley at BYU	7:30 p.m. MT	BYU leads, 2-1 / Dec. 17, 1977
Nov. 20	COLORADO STATE at Indiana State	7 p.m. ET	Tied, 1-1 / Dec. 30, 1981
Nov. 21	Southern Illinois at UNLV	7 p.m. PT	UNLV leads, 2-1 / Dec. 23, 1983
Dec. 5	AIR FORCE at Missouri State	7 p.m. CT	First Meeting
Dec. 12	TCU at Wichita State	7 p.m. CT	WSU leads, 5-2 / Dec. 8, 2008
Dec. 19	Creighton at NEW MEXICO	7 p.m. MT	UNM leads, 2- 1/ Nov. 16, 2008
Dec. 19	Illinois State at UTAH	4 p.m. MT	First Meeting
Dec. 22	SAN DIEGO STATE at Drake	8 p.m. CT	DU leads, 4-1 / Nov. 25, 1977
Dec. 23	WYOMING at Northern Iowa	7 p.m. CT	WYO leads, 3-0 / Dec. 13, 2008

Projected Dates for Future Challenge Series:
2010 -- Nov. 27 - Dec. 4
2011 -- Nov. 26 - Dec. 3
2012 -- Nov. 24 - Dec. 1