The first-ever Saluki Insider Arch Madness preview is here. We have put our minds together, but we are not responsible for the losses at your favorite sports book. This will be our best guess starting with the games on Thursday. In an insanely competitive year in the Valley everything seems wide open. No Thursday team has ever won it all and we see that trend continuing this year. Drake and that team from Peoria seem to be the favorites but let’s dig deeper.
Thursday Games
Illinois State vs. Northern Iowa
SI Pick – Northern Iowa Final: UNI 75, ISUr 62
Northern Iowa swept the season series this year. This one should be close one throughout. Illinois State gives a lot of effort but the talent is not there to pull it out. UNI will outlast them for the third time this season.
Evansville vs. Indiana State
SI Pick – Indiana State Final: ISUb 97, Evansville 58
Indiana State swept the season series and expect them to win again. Evansville is bad, and the Trees are not. This one might be close early but it should be an easy Indiana State win.
Valparaiso vs. Murray State
SI Pick – Valparaiso
Murray State swept the season series, and we are still scratching our heads about Valpo’s selection of a mascot. Both games between the two schools went to overtime. This time the ponies will come up lame. Valpo pulls this one out sending all those Murray superfans home with three-days worth of unused tickets. I’m sure it will the fault of the refs, though.
Illinois-Chicago vs. Missouri State
SI Pick – Illinois-Chicago
The Bears won both games this year, but UIC is better than their record. Missouri State has a coach with a rapidly rising hot-seat level. There is a lot of pressure here on the Bears. Give us UIC in what will probably be the best game of the day.
Friday (Quarterfinals)
Northern Iowa vs. Bradley
SI Pick – Unfortunately Bradley
Unless the basketball Gods intervene, the Braves probably win this. They swept the Panthers in the season series. One can hope UNI goes crazy from three and pulls the upset. Let’s hope the Gargoyles have a tough game and are exhausted.
Indiana State vs. Belmont
SI Pick – Belmont
This game could go either way. Their only meeting of the season was a one-point Belmont win in Nashville. Both teams are well coached. Both teams can be streaky and questionable defensively at times. When the dust settles we think Belmont will ride their tens of fans all the way to win a tight, hard fought game.
Valparaiso vs. Drake
SI Pick – Drake
Drake won the season series with both games being very close. In fact, the most recent game went to overtime. Drake is the better team. The Bulldogs have the better coach, not to mention the coach’s son. Drake will prevail in what should be an easy one.
Southern Illinois vs. Illinois-Chicago
SI Pick – Do you have to ask?
UIC has played SIU twice and lost twice. The Flames have little depth and two games in two days is going to be tough. The deep Saluki bench will help the Salukis pull away late against tired legs.
Saturday (Semi-Finals)
Belmont vs. Bradley
SI Pick – Belmont
The Bruins beat Bradley twice this season in tight games. They spread the floor and do not beat themselves. Bradley has been playing at a high level lately. However, we think Belmont will ride its now 20s of fans to beat the Braves and complete the trifecta. The Braves might do well in the NIT.
Southern Illinois vs. Drake
SI Pick – Southern Illinois
The teams split the season series. SIU got blasted at Drake but won in Carbondale. This game will be a slow defensive battle. Both teams have solid senior leadership. Look for a game that comes down to the wire. It’s a literal toss up we and we are thinking that Drake’s senior citizens wear down late and SIU grabs the win to avenge last year’s tournament loss to the Bulldogs.
Sound good so far?
Championship Sunday
Belmont vs. Southern Illinois
SI Pick – Southern Illinois
These teams tangled just one time, two months ago, in Carbondale. The Salukis cruised to an easy road win days after the Bruins beat Bradley. The defense that SIU plays will frustrate the Bruins. The Salukis held them to just 45 points in January. Belmont, now riding a wave of 30s of fans, will be attempting to win their first Arch madness. While the rowdy mini team in the Belmont fan section will help the Bruins, it is a lot of pressure on a young team in an unfamiliar arena on CBS. We like the Salukis here to finally cut down the nets in a close hard fought game. Dance Dawgs!!
The Last Word
There you have it. The Salukis put it together for three days and advance to the dance . As wide open as this tournament is, we like this possible outcome. We can’t imagine that we got anything wrong here, but feel free to add your two cents in the comments.
GO DAWGS!
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