well, the regular season is over for the ISU Redbirds.   They did not get the conference title I was hoping for last time I blogged, but they held off SIU and Creighton for 2nd, sweeping both.   Which means they get the right to play the winner of the 7-10 game on Friday.    Logic seems to say that it is an advantage to be able to rest and watch while your potential opponent has to play a must-win game less than 24 hours before you play them..    somtimes it seems though that those teams gain momentum and get all the rust out (plus having had a chance to get used to the neutral site rims and court, etc.) and give the 2 seed some nice battles  I recall some play-in teams having a heck of a 2nd game.   It seems the true advantage comes on Saturday if you are playing a play-in team who is on their 3rd day.

Ok, here is how the bracket sets up:

Thursday:

7 seed Missouri State versus 10 seed Evansville starting at around 8:35 p.m. (probably ending around 11 p.m.)..  winner plays ISU Friday at around 6 p.m.

8 seed Indiana State plays Wichita State at 6 p.m. ...  winner plays Drake at noon friday.

Friday:

Drake versus InSU-WSU winner at noon

Creighton versus Bradley at roughly 2:30  (depends on how long 1st game goes)

ISU versus MSU-Evansville around 6 p.m.

Southern Illinois verus Northern Iowa around 8:30 (depending on length of ISU game)

Saturday:

Drake game winner versus Creighton/Bradley winner at around 1:30 p.m.

ISU game winner versus Southern/UNI game around 4 p.m.

Sunday:

Title game at 1 p.m.   (will be shown on CBS)

some quick notes on ISU side..     ISU is 4-0 versus the 2 teams playing for right to play them but the games on the road for ISU were very close (1 point win at MSU, 2 point win at Evansville)..    If they win that game, they have swept SIU but split with Northern Iowa, each winning on home court.

I am excited about this Arch Madness...   of course, would love to see ISU win it, but on the off-chance they don't, the "bubble" watches seem to have mixed opinions..  some seem to think winning the 1st game might be enough..   others seem to think making it to the finals is needed.

We shall see what happens.   in the meantime-- Go ISU and for the next few days, it is time to watch others play and see if a few bubbles can be burst along the way to help out. :)