I did not get to hear Billy Packer and Jim Nantz dis the Missouri Valley Conference and – from what I’m told – every college basketball team that is not affiliated with a school that thinks it plays big-time football.

The celebration in the ballroom of the Michel Student Center at Bradley University was simply too loud.

Thank goodness.

Things are hoppin’ and poppin’ again on the Hilltop, where Sunday evening the Bradley Braves learned they’re heading back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. There still is work to be done. Finding a way to beat Kansas on Friday, for starters. Then, getting this program into perennial Valley contention and making NCAA appearances a habit, rather than cause to party like it’s New Year’s Eve. But Sunday night was a time for the BU family to cut loose.

The weather outside was frightful. In fact, just as the CBS tournament selection show began, a graphic in the lower left of the TV screen showed Peoria County as an island of red, a T-storm warning in a sea of yellow tornado watches. People looking for omens might have started to worry the red meant “Stop, the party is over.”

You can come out of the basement.

The only severe storm was the eruption that occurred the instant Bradley’s name appeared on the bracket. By the time the Braves were done jumping and whooping, their chairs were scattered and party debris was everywhere.

Behind the team stood Marcello Robinson, former point guard who was a freshman on the last BU team before this one to chalk up a winning record. That was in 2001. Robinson never made it to the NCAA, but he was as excited about the Braves’ at-large invitation to the Big Dance as if he were still playing. From the moment the bracket was shown on national TV, his cell phone started buzzing with congratulations from friends and relatives back in his native Kankakee.

“It’s like coach Les says, once you’re a Brave, you’re always a Brave,” Robinson said. “When they lose, I lose. When they win, I win. This is huge.”

Robinson helped make sure another former player made it to the Student Center to share the moment.

Michael Suggs, who quit the team after a 30-day suspension before his senior season, is enrolled at Central Missouri State now. But he flew from Columbia, Mo., to Chicago on Sunday morning, and Robinson drove up to meet him at Midway Airport and bring him to Peoria for the party.

“These are my boys,” Suggs said as he waved his arms at the team and specifically referred to former teammates Marcellus Sommerville and Tony Bennett.

That’s the kind of attitude Jim Les has tried to instill in his program. On the surface, it might not sound like much. But the involvement of former players is one of the hallmarks of the nation’s elite programs, especially those that maintain a high level of success.

Les experienced the Bradley bond as a kid, when he was a ballboy during the career of his older brother Tom. He later experienced it as one of the favorite players in BU history, and then as an alum.

“Those relationships and ties are just as important as what happens on the court,” Les said. “That’s what makes this place special. We tell kids when we recruit them, this is not a four-year decision. This is a lifetime decision. Bradley is going to be a big part of the rest of your life.”

There is joy in Bravesland again.

Don’t let Billy Packer spoil it for you.