FA Cup Sixth Round draw: And then there were eight

It's one of the most fantastic and maddening aspects of the FA Cup -- even at this late stage of the tournament, with nine (about to be eight) slots left and a clear distinction between the haves and have-nots, matchups are still determined by a draw.

And not just any draw, mind you -- various English soccer celebrities pull balls one by one from a velvet bag to determine home and away teams for the final time this year, as the quarterfinal winners will play the semis and finals of the tournament, per tradition, at Wembley.

So: Will Arsenal have to travel to Anfield or Old Trafford? Host Blackburn or Reading? Travel to Bradford's muddy bog of a pitch? It's all in the hands of current England manager Roy Hodgson, at 11:30 am PT/2:30 pm ET/7:30 pm BT. For American viewers, it appears that Fox Sports One's coverage of ManU vs. Preston North End will start airing in time to include the draw. If they don't come through, or a computer's closer than a TV, you can visit the FA Cup's site and watch their livestream. If you're in a work meeting and you can only glance down at your Twitter feed, we've got you covered; just go to @theshortfuse and watch us cover it ball-to-ball.

Here are the randomly assigned numbers for this draw, so you can know Arsenal's fate a split-second before the announcers tell you:

1. Liverpool

2. Arsenal

3. Aston Villa

4. West Brom

5. Bradford

6. Blackburn

7. Reading

8. Manchester United (unless Preston North End has a miracle in them)

Note: If you jump on right at 7:30 BT, you'll probably have time to run and get something out of the snack machine before pleasantries are dispensed with and they get to drawing. But it's not like this is a 3rd or 4th Round Draw; it'll wrap up pretty quickly.