PEORIA, Ill. – The Bradley men's basketball team has played in more postseason tournaments than any team in the Missouri Valley Conference and the Braves (16-16) will add to their total by making their 35th postseason appearance when a quartet of tournaments tip off next week.

Bradley, which will end a three-year postseason drought, has accepted an invitation to the fifth-annual CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) and the Braves will serve as a first-round home team in the 32-team tournament.  The complete tournament field and first-round matchups will not be announced until late Sunday night.

First-round games in the 2013 CIT will be played March 19 and 20 at home sites and Bradley will host its first-round game March 20 at 7 p.m. on campus at Renaissance Coliseum, the first postseason home game played on campus since the 1982 NIT.  The 2013 CIT will continue with second-round games March 22-24, quarterfinal games March 26-27 and semifinal games March 29-30.  The championship game will be played April 2.

Tickets for Bradley's first-round game in the CIT will be $22 for seats between the baselines, $20 for endzone locations and $1 for Bradley University students and will go on sale in two stages:  Bradley's 2012-13 Braves Club members, men's basketball season-ticket holders and students may begin purchasing tickets Wednesday at the Renaissance Coliseum Box Office (309-677-2625) during regular business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m.).  The general public may begin to purchase tickets Thursday.

In addition, groups of at least 10 may purchase tickets at discounted rates for the endzone seating locations:  $15 each for groups of 10-19 individuals or $12 each for groups of at least 20.  Parties interested in purchasing group tickets should contact Joe Dolan in the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office by calling (309) 253-8136.

The 32-team CIT field will be made up of teams from 26 leagues and all participants, with the exception of the Great West Conference Tournament champion, must enter the postseason with at least a .500 record.  Bradley (16-16) is one of the most-improved teams in the country, increasing its win total by nine victories compared to last season.

Bradley played in the inaugural CIT in 2009, advancing to the championship game versus Old Dominion at Carver Arena.  In addition to receiving an invitation to the inaugural edition of a sixth college basketball postseason tournament (1938 NIT, 1939 NCAA, 1951 National Campus Tournament, 1974 Commissioner's Classic and 2008 CBI), Bradley made additional history when then-junior guard Chris Roberts made the longest game-winning shot in NCAA Division I postseason tournament history, a 75-foot bank shot to beat Oakland, 76-75, in a CIT second-round game at Carver Arena.

Three of the first four CIT champions have gone on to win their league's regular-season title the following season, including 2012 champion Mercer, which is 23-11 overall won this year's Atlantic Sun Conference crown with a 14-4 league record.