Arch Madness has been an amalgamation of upheaval and chaos, with No. 1 seed Loyola-Chicago and No. 2 seed Drake losing Saturday in the MVC semifinals. As a result, the league's title game is an unexpected matchup between fifth-seeded Bradley and sixth-seeded Northern Iowa. The game tips Sunday at 2:05 p.m. ET.
The two programs split the regular-season series this season 1-1 in an odd way, with the road team winning comfortably in each instance. If the same trend holds true, Northern Iowa has a slight edge here as its campus is nearly twice the distance from where the title game will be played in St. Louis as Bradley's campus is in Peoria, Illinois.
Does that even matter? Probably not. But to this point, seeding and logic haven't mattered much in the MVC tournament, either. Expect the unexpected when the two face off for an automatic bid on Sunday afternoon.
Viewing information for Bradley vs. Northern Iowa
- When: Sunday at 2:05 p.m. ET
- Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis
- TV: CBS (Also available on CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App for Android, iOS, Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV)
- Live stream: fuboTV (try for free)
Game prediction, pick
Latest odds via SportsLine: TBD
One week removed from getting blown out by Loyola-Chicago, the MVC's best club all season, Bradley posted close wins over Missouri State and Loyola to earn its spot in the league's postseason title game. The Braves have clearly figured something out here -- or at least they've stumbled into a little good fortune. Whatever it is, I can't touch it. I'm picking the Braves to pull this one off and clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Pick: Bradley 71, Northern Iowa 69
[Which college basketball teams should you back today? And who should you avoid like the plague? Visit SportsLine now to see projected scores and stats from 10,000 simulations, Vegas insider picks, and optimized March Madness brackets, and find out!]
