Arch Madness Matchups

[Majik45]

Question for the Braves fans on here, would you rather face the Redbirds or Panthers? Neither pose a threat on paper, but UNI has Born returning and there's the emotion of rivals and "nothing to lose" factor against IlSt.

I'd rather play UNI, as Bradley matches up well with them, and Born is not 100%, despite having time to recover. Rivalry games can be tricky, hence why Bradley was lucky as heck to win the game in Peoria with ISU this year.

Honestly the way Bradley is playing right now, I have a hard time believing they won't keep the train rolling for that first game.

[BCPanther]

I think Bradley will bring 5k, honestly. SIU/Murray will bring the next most. Followed by Drake/UNI then ISU/ISU/MSU.

I'm not sure there will be 5000 people total in the building at any one time.

[squirrel]

The 1 seed has won Arch Madness just twice in the last 8 tournaments.

Bradley (2x) and UNI (2x) are the only current league members to win Arch Madness in the last 11 years.

[SalukiWorld]

I think Bradley will bring 5k, honestly. SIU/Murray will bring the next most. Followed by Drake/UNI then ISU/ISU/MSU.

I'm not sure there will be 5000 people total in the building at any one time.

Just looked back at last year and we had over 5,000 for all 3 rounds. The Loyola/Drake championship game drew 5,164. Think Bradley/Drake can get above that, I wasn't there but on TV it seemed like Loyola's fan support starting to drop towards the end in St. Louis. SIU/Bradley would be the dream matchup for the MVC though.

But yeah, Bradley isn't bringing 5,000 fans themselves

[BCPanther]

I think Bradley will bring 5k, honestly. SIU/Murray will bring the next most. Followed by Drake/UNI then ISU/ISU/MSU.

I'm not sure there will be 5000 people total in the building at any one time.

Just looked back at last year and we had over 5,000 for all 3 rounds. The Loyola/Drake championship game drew 5,164. Think Bradley/Drake can get above that, I wasn't there but on TV it seemed like Loyola's fan support starting to drop towards the end in St. Louis. SIU/Bradley would be the dream matchup for the MVC though.

But yeah, Bradley isn't bringing 5,000 fans themselves

5000 announced isn't 5000 butts in seats.

We'll get this thing turned around and get people going back again. Future of this league is pretty bright.

[PretzelDawg]

Lots of people were still leery of being in public the past few years. I anticipate much higher attendance this year as many Valley teams have seen an uptick in attendance at home games this year.

[Bulldog2323]

Lots of people were still leery of being in public the past few years. I anticipate much higher attendance this year as many Valley teams have seen an uptick in attendance at home games this year.

Agreed. The mask mandate turned a lot of people off from Drake last year and if I remember correctly the mandate wasn't lifted until Sunday of Arch Madness last year. This will be my first year since my band days and I'm very excited. Got an all-session, looking forward to seeing 12 intro videos.

[Billyb60046]

I agree with whoever said that Bradley's path is actually a little tougher than Drake's to the championship, but anything can happen at Arch Madness.
The one team I absolutely don't want Drake to play is Missouri State. I think it's a bad match up for them. I think they will cruise past UIC, and if Drake can take care of Murray/Valpo, that semifinal is going to be very interesting.

Bradley needing to go through Illinois State/UNI, then Belmont/Indiana St, in my opinion, is a little tougher of a two game stretch. Indiana State finding a way to lose that game Sunday was big in terms of seeding.

[BCPanther]

I agree with whoever said that Bradley's path is actually a little tougher than Drake's to the championship, but anything can happen at Arch Madness.
The one team I absolutely don't want Drake to play is Missouri State. I think it's a bad match up for them. I think they will cruise past UIC, and if Drake can take care of Murray/Valpo, that semifinal is going to be very interesting.

Bradley needing to go through Illinois State/UNI, then Belmont/Indiana St, in my opinion, is a little tougher of a two game stretch. Indiana State finding a way to lose that game Sunday was big in terms of seeding.

Bradley definitely got the tougher side of the bracket. The imbalance in coaching is striking.

You rather go through Jake/Pedon/Alexander/Schertz or Prohm/Lottich/Ford/Mullins?

[SalukiWorld]

I think SIU could have given Bradley a fight. Think Bradley is probably happy they don’t have to deal with that again. SIU already won their ugly game against Drake this year, not sure it’s going to happen again.