Chicagoland Invitational - Goofy tournament?

[MDCowboy]

First off, I am very glad BU is in this tournament.... As a Chicago area alum, I'm happy to see these games and get a chance to play a Big East school where we will have more fans, and a possible chance to play a Big 10 school on a neutral floor.

I know the tourney also gives 2 other games at home..... what is wierd though is that the teams that play the away games don't play the same teams on their side of the bracket.

For example, UIC doesn't play at Rutgers on Tuesday, they play at Miami-Ohio. Rutgers hosts Jackson St. and St. Thomas Aquinas (????)... so this tourney has like atleast 9 teams in it... but as we all know, the only 4 that really matter are the home teams (Illinois, Miami-Ohio, Rutgers, and Bradley)...

Anyway - just didn't know if anyone had more of an explanation on this tourney. Clearly it is a 4 team tourney designed to give extra home games to the top 4 teams. I'm a little surprised UIC signed up to play in this, as their program is a lot better than the other "scrub" teams.......

[it's boogie time]

It definately is a different format. The only advantage for UIC is that they get two games near their home for the third and forth team. Every team gets four games that only counts as one against the schedule limit.

2006 Chicago Invitational Challenge Tournament Schedule

Third Round Schedule - NOV. 24, Sears Centre
Noon - Jackson State vs. Savannah State
2:30 p.m. - Illinois-Chicago vs. Florida A&M
5 p.m. - Bradley vs. Rutgers
7:30 p.m. - Illinois vs. Miami (OH)

Championship Round - NOV. 25, Sears Centre
11:30 a.m. - Loser of JSU/SSU vs. Loser of UIC/FAMU
2 p.m. - Winner of JSU/SSU vs. Winner of UIC/FAMU
5 p.m. - Loser of BU/RU vs. Loser of UI/MU
7:30 p.m. - Winner of BU/RU vs. Winner of UI/MU