This kills what made Arch Madness great. Seeing a top seed potentially knocked out early really did make it feel like anyone could win it on any given year. Now it is just win once and you're in the championship game. In that, it does several things that could likely decrease fan attendance: First, it doesn't have the allure moving forward for lower seeds as the statistical probabilities just dropped drastically. If my team is the 9-10 seed, I probably now just opt to watch via streaming. For example, previously if you're the 9 seed, you beat 8 and then you get to take on the top dog and set your fate. Now you'd have to beat 4th, then likely the 5th, then get to play the top dog. Second, if there are now four games on Thursday, fans are much less likely to stick around the entire session. IIRC, it started at 3:30 and last game tipped at 8:30-9ish already. Now the day will have to start at noon. Lastly, if the top 2 seeds don't have to participate until Saturday, you're now making Thursday completely optional and potentially losing butts in the seats. Your opponent scout now happens on Friday. Especially bad when it is likely that the top teams probably have the highest fan attendance. Look, I get wanting to try to protect your top seeds but if they truly are the best in the league, they should be able to wipe the bottom of the league in their "tune up" game.