ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure men's basketball team will open the 2025-26 season in the Palmetto State as the Bonnies take part in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon vs. Bradley in Rock Hill, S.C. on Nov. 3.

St. Bonaventure vs. Bradley will be part of a new six-game, all-day event kicking off the college basketball season. Bona's matchup will be the middle of three games at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center as the day kicks off with Queens vs. Winthrop bright and early at 8 a.m. before the Bonnies take to court soon after. High Point vs. Furman finishes the day of action in Rock Hill later that evening. Field of 68's marathon also includes a slate of three games on the season's first day in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Bonnies fans should grab a cup of coffee for the Opening Day bonanza as the Brown and White is slated to tip off at 11 a.m.

The games will be broadcast on The Field of 68's YouTube Channel and X feeds, and the network's popular After Dark show will be broadcast live with a set at both venues.

"We're really excited to be the second game of the season, play in Rock Hill and face a great opponent," Bonnies head coach Mark Schmidt said. "Coach Wardle does a great job, does it the right way, and his teams are well-coached. They lost a lot of guys, we lost a lot of guys. Our guys are excited to play a great program, a successful program, very similar to us - a little under the radar. Great venue, our alumni will come to the game and we're very excited about it."

Bradley is one of the best programs in the Missouri Valley, having won the regular season title in 2023 and finishing at least four games over .500 in the league in each of the last four seasons. Last year, Bradley finished 28-9 and won a pair of games in the NIT, ranking No. 80 in NCAA NET rankings.

"When you play a good team in the first game of the season, you have your guys' attention more," Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. "It gives you extra juice heading into that first week. We're so excited about this event. It's a great location, great city… and it's gonna be a high-level game that we're thrilled to be a part of."

At the event's second site across the country in Sioux Falls, Murray State will take on Omaha; Drake battles Northern Arizona and South Dakota State will duel with Merrimack. 

Tickets are set to go on sale Sept. 5.

"We are honored to be involved in this event, which has some of the elite programs in the country that exist outside the sport's traditional power structure," Field of 68 founder Rob Dauster said. "This is a great opportunity for us to be able to provide more coverage for these teams that frankly don't get enough. What we do at the Field of 68 is try and give teams at all levels the coverage they deserve."

St. Bonaventure has just one date left on its 2025-26 non-conference schedule left to announce. For information on the schedule, click here.

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