2020 U.S. Open Cup

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by newtex, Sep 12, 2019.

  1. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...pen-cup-bracket-format-and-schedule-finalized

    I don't see how this is going to work. The first round which includes the recently determined local qualifiers plus the teams from the NPSL and USL-League Two starts in March. Many of those teams don't have any players until May when college ends.

    I'll be curious to see if more information comes out about this.
     
  2. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    https://thecup.us/2019/12/13/withou...-open-cup-schedule-cripples-npsl-usl-2-teams/

    Some followup information. TheCup website got a quote from the USSF:

    It is likely that several of the NPSL and USL-2 teams that would have qualified will now decline the invitation to the tournament. I guess we'll find out on January 9.
     
  3. cleazer

    cleazer Member+

    May 6, 2003
    Toledo, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Strongly approve of the bigger gaps between rounds.

    And also that the the third round draw doesn't happen until after the second round has been completed. There may still be some geographic difficulties, but at least they'll know the winner of some game like Memphis vs New York before figuring out who they could play in the next round.

    Sounds like they're still waiting to figure out (or at least announce or confirm) exactly how they want to do the draws for some of the rounds. Obviously geography will be part of it (along with the old "try to avoid matchups between teams from the same league"), but I wonder if they've got any more surprises up their sleeve.
     
    CrankyAvenger repped this.
  4. Fighting Illini

    Fighting Illini Member+

    Feb 6, 2014
    Chicago
    Looking for "David vs Goliath" is the right idea. And there's a little bit of overlap with the CCL, but only for the lesser teams.

    Thumbs up, I'd say.
     
    CrankyAvenger repped this.
  5. Fighting Illini

    Fighting Illini Member+

    Feb 6, 2014
    Chicago
    In general it's just nice to see that SUM cares about the competition and is trying to improve it, and barking up what seems to be the right tree on how.
     
  6. ThreeApples

    ThreeApples Member+

    Jul 28, 1999
    Smurf Village
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's a fair argument that a national tournament shouldn't overly tailor its schedule just for the needs of a subgroup of clubs that can only field a squad for three months of the year.
     
    Fighting Illini repped this.
  7. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    #32 newtex, Dec 18, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2019
    Reading United and Flint City Bucks have both withdrawn from 2020 U.S. Open Cup consideration over the schedule. Flint was the 2019 USL-L2 champion and beat Reading in the final.

    More will be pulling out soon.
     
  8. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    The 2020 Canadian Championship format has been announced.

    https://canpl.ca/article/2020-canadian-championship-format-unveiled-by-canada-soccer

    12 teams will take part. Each round is home and away. The winner advances to the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League.

    Qualifying Round 1 (June 16-25, 2020)

    Match 1 – FC Edmonton (CPL) v. Pacific FC (CPL)
    Match 2 – Valour FC (CPL) v. Forge FC (CPL)
    Match 3 – AS Blainville (PLSQ) v. HFX Wanderers (CPL)
    Match 4 – Masters Futbol Academy (L10) v. York9 FC (CPL)

    Quarter-finals (July 7-16, 2020)

    Match 5 – Winner Match 1 v. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS)
    Match 6 – Winner Match 2 v. Cavalry FC (CPL)
    Match 7 – Winner Match 3 v. Montreal Impact (MLS)
    Match 8 – Winner Match 4 v. Toronto FC (MLS)

    Semifinals (August 11-20, 2020)

    Match 9 – Winner Match 5 v. Winner Match 6
    Match 10 – Winner Match 7 v. Winner Match 8

    Finals (September 15-24, 2020)

    Match 11 – Winner Match 9 v. Winner Match 10
     
  9. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What's notable is how "top 12" was determined. It's the four clubs in the 2020 CCL and the top four regular season clubs in each conference excluding CCL clubs and obviously Canadian clubs. Atlanta United, D.C. United, LAFC, LA Galaxy, Minnesota United FC, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake and Seattle Sounders FC are those 12. The difference compared to taking the top 12 American clubs in the Supporters Shield standings is that New England (45 points) got a bye over FC Dallas (48 points). The CCL clubs were among the top 12 clubs in the Supporters Shield standings. New England benefitted from the other eight being four from each conference. @ElJefe does that bother you?
     
  10. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    It looks like quite a few of the NPSL and USL-2 teams are going to go ahead and enter the 2020 U.S. Open Cup.

    TheCup.us has been figuring it out but things could still change.

    https://thecup.us/2019/12/20/which-npsl-usl-league-two-teams-are-likely-to-play-in-2020-us-open-cup/

    NPSL

    Withdrew or declined for other reasons:
    • Miami FC (Moved to NISA, will not field team in NPSL)
    • New York Cosmos B (Will not field team in NPSL) (Confirmed)
    • Detroit City FC (Moved to NISA, will not field team in NPSL) (Confirmed)
    • Midland-Odessa Sockers FC (Confirmed to TheCup.us)
    • Chattanooga FC (Moved to NISA, will not field team in NPSL)
    • Brooklyn Italians (Will not field team in NPSL) (First reported by TheCup.us)
    • Orange County FC*
    • AFC Ann Arbor (Moved to USL-2)*
    • Grand Rapids FC (Moved to USL-2)*
    • Greenville FC*
    Indicated that they will take part:
    • Tulsa Athletic (NPSL Quarterfinalist, South Region – Heartland Conference) (Tweet)
    • FC Motown (Northeast Region – Keystone Conference) (Tweet)
    • ASC San Diego (NPSL Semifinalist, West Region – Southwest Conference) (Tweet)
    • Cleveland SC (NPSL Semifinalist, Midwest Region – East Conference)
    • Naples United FC (South Region – Sunshine Conference)* (Instagram Post)
    • FC Arizona (NPSL Quarterfinalist, West Region – Southwest Conference) (Instagram Post)
    • Minneapolis City SC (Midwest Region – North Conference) (Tweet)
    • Atlantic City FC (Northeast Region – Keystone Conference) (Tweet)*
    • Denton Diablos FC (South Region – Lone Star Conference) (Tweet)*
    • FC Davis (West Region – Golden Gate Conference)
    • Med City FC (Midwest Region – North Conference) (Facebook post)*
    • Miami United FC (South Region – Sunshine Conference)*
    • West Chester United SC (Northeast Region – Keystone Conference) (Tweet)*
    USL-2

    Out:
    Flint City Bucks - declined
    Reading United - declined
    Colorado Pride Switchbacks U-23 - not fielding a team

    Apparently in:
    • Des Moines Menace (Heartland Division champion)
    • Western Mass Pioneers (Northeast Division champion)
    • FC Golden State Force (Southwest Division champion)
    • South Georgia Tormenta FC 2 (Deep South Division champion)
    • The Villages SC (Southeast Division champion)
    • Chicago FC United (Great Lakes Division champion) (Tweet)
    • North Carolina Fusion U23 (South Atlantic Division champion) (Tweet)
    • GPS Portland Phoenix (At-Large)
    • SC United Phantoms (At-Large)
    Unknown:
    Brazos Valley Cavalry

    Maybe:
    Ventura County Fusion
    Corpus Christi FC
     
  11. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Hmm. There winds up being a lot of the 2020 Leagues Cup teams in there. Obviously since it is mostly the same criteria.

    Leagues Cup teams:
    Philadelphia
    Toronto
    DC United
    NY Red Bulls
    -------------------------------
    Salt Lake
    Minnesota
    LA Galaxy
    Portland

    CCL teams:
    Atlanta
    NYCFC
    ----------
    Seattle
    LAFC


    New England gets the Toronto spot.
     
  12. Mateofelipe

    Mateofelipe Member+

    Mar 10, 2001
    Spokane, WA
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Go South Georgia Tormenta FC II (says the native of Southeast GA and son of GA Southern Alumna)!
     
  13. ElJefe

    ElJefe Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 16, 1999
    Colorful Colorado
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Am I the only FCD fan here?

    But seriously, given that that match will be NTXSC players and FCD bench players against lower-division competition, I'm not terribly bothered. If they wanted the bye, they should've finished 6th instead of 7th in the West, I guess.
     
  14. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    newtex's list has 22 participants, 13 clubs who don't exist or won't enter, and 3 unknown. How many clubs will enter from leagues who have all their clubs participate except for Canadian clubs?
    You're a moderator, and I don't go in the FCD forum, so off the top of my head you were the only FCD fan I knew. I was not trying to imply that you are the only FCD fan here. I'm sorry if you felt that way. I'm guessing that if you asked people who read some combination of MLS: General, N&A, and YBTD, and a forum for their favorite club who isn't FCD to name an FCD fan here, you would be the most common answer.
     
  15. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Eligible teams in the PLS (professional) leagues have to enter the Open Cup if they are on schedules at the time that the tournament starts. Eligible excludes Canadian and teams owned/controlled by higher division team (mostly MLS2 teams in USL).

    We still don't for sure how many teams will take part from the NPSL and USL-2 but here are the numbers of expected teams in the other categories:

    Local Qualifiers and National Amateur Champs - 13 teams
    NISA - 9 teams (this may change)
    USL1 - 6 teams
    USLC - 25 teams
    MLS - 23 teams

    I think that is correct. We will find out for sure on January 9.
     
  16. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    The full list of teams and process for the 2020 U.S. Open Cup is out:

    https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...ams-confirmed-for-2020-lamar-hunt-us-open-cup

    The draw process:

    Round 1 (March 24-25)
    • Participants: 38 Open Division teams (12 local qualifiers, 1 USASA Amateur Cup champion, 14 NPSL, 11 USL League Two)
    • Pairings Format: Teams will be paired geographically against clubs from other qualifying pools
    Round 2 (April 7-9)
    • Participants (58): 19 First Round winners, 14 Division III teams (8 NISA, 6 USL League One), 25 Division II clubs (USL Championship)
    • Pairings Format: After the First Round pairings are made, each First Round pairing will be matched geographically to a specific Division III or Division II team. The remaining Division III and Division II sides will be paired to play each other (avoiding any remaining Division III clubs from playing other Division III sides and any remaining Division II clubs from playing other Division II sides), with these pairings also made geographically.
    Round 3 (April 21-23)
    • Participants (40): 29 Second Round winners, 11 lower-seeded Division I clubs (MLS)
    • After completion of the Second Round, participants in the Third Round will be pooled geographically into either ten groups of four (with nine groups having three Second Round winners and one Division I club and one group having two Second Round winners and two Division I clubs) or nine groups (with seven groups consisting of three Second Round winners and one Division I side and two groups having four Second Round winners and two Division I teams), with the number of groups (either ten or nine) based on geographical considerations. A random draw will determine the pairings within each group, with all Division I sides paired to face a Second Round winner and not another Division I club.
    Round of 32 (May 19-20)
    • Participants: 20 Third Round winners, 12 higher-seeded Division I clubs (MLS)
    • After completion of the Third Round, participants in the Round of 32 will be pooled geographically into eight groups of four, with four groups having two Third Round winners and four groups having three. A random draw will determine the pairings within each group, with all Division I sides playing their first tournament game paired to face a Third Round winner and not another Division I club playing their first tournament game.
    The rest of the tournament is pretty much the same as last year. There are more details on the process in the article.
     
  17. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    2020 U.S. Open Cup teams:

    Open Division Teams (38), entering in First Round:
    Local Qualifiers (12):
    East Region: Christos FC (Md.), New York Pancyprian Freedoms (N.Y.), Vereinigung Erzgebirge (Pa.), Virginia United* (Va.); Central Region: Louisiana Krewe FC (La.), Miami United FC U23 (Fla.), Nashville United (Tenn.), NTX Rayados* (Texas); West Region: Cal FC* (Calif.), Chula Vista FC (Calif.), FC Boulder Harpos (Colo.), Olympic Club (Calif.)

    2019 U.S. Adult Soccer Association National Amateur Cup champion: Newtown Pride FC (Conn.)

    National Premier Soccer League (14):
    Listed by region in order of rank: Northeast Region (3): Atlantic City FC, West Chester United SC, FC Motown*; South Region (4): Tulsa Athletic, Naples United FC, Denton Diablos FC, Fort Worth Vaqueros FC; Midwest Region (3): Cleveland SC, Minneapolis City SC, Med City FC; West Region (4): ASC San Diego, FC Arizona, FC Davis, Crossfire Redmond

    USL League Two (11):
    Division winners: Chicago FC United, Des Moines Menace*, FC Golden State Force*, North Carolina Fusion U23, South Georgia Tormenta FC 2*, The Villages SC*, Western Mass Pioneers. Wild card entries (in rank order): GPS Portland Phoenix, SC United Bantams, Ventura County Fusion, Corpus Christi FC

    Division III Teams (14), entering in Second Round:

    USL League One
    (6): Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, Forward Madison FC, Greenville Triumph SC, Richmond Kickers, South Georgia Tormenta FC, Union Omaha

    National Independent Soccer Association (8): California United Strikers FC, Chattanooga FC, Detroit City FC, LA Force, Michigan Stars FC, Oakland Roots, San Diego 1904 FC, Stumptown Athletic

    Division II Teams (25), entering in the Second Round
    USL Championship (25): Austin Bold FC, Birmingham Legion FC, Charleston Battery, Charlotte Independence, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, El Paso Locomotive FC, FC Tulsa, Hartford Athletic, Indy Eleven, Las Vegas Lights FC, Louisville City FC, Memphis 901 FC, Miami FC, New Mexico United, North Carolina FC, OKC Energy FC, Orange County SC, Phoenix Rising FC, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, Reno 1868 FC, Sacramento Republic FC, Saint Louis FC, San Antonio FC, San Diego Loyal SC, Tampa Bay Rowdies

    Division I Teams, (23)
    Major League Soccer, entering in the Third Round: (11) Chicago Fire FC, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew SC, FC Cincinnati, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Inter Miami CF, Nashville SC, Orlando City SC, San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting Kansas City

    Major League Soccer, entering in the Round of 32 (12): Atlanta United FC, D.C. United, Los Angeles FC, LA Galaxy, Minnesota United FC, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders FC.
     
    EvanJ, Quaker and GunnerJacket repped this.
  18. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
  19. cleazer

    cleazer Member+

    May 6, 2003
    Toledo, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    God have mercy on whatever poor soul is tasked with trying to figure out how to group teams geographically in the 3rd round.

    The MLS teams getting a bye to the 4th round include NY, NY, NE, DC, and Philly. That means that all the lower-league east coast teams that make it through round 2 will have to be paired up with the likes of the Crew, Cincy, Fire, Nashville, Orlando, or Miami. It's going to be a mess, just look at the map newtex posted above.

    A similar thing will happen on the west coast, with LA, LA, Seattle, and Portland all skipping the 3rd round. San Jose will be left all on their own. Colorado will get a group with 3 other western/mountain teams in it, but it still won't be enough. Some west coast teams will be stuck with Kansas City or Texas, or maybe even further east with Nashville/Chicago/Florida/Ohio.

    One tiny plus is that at least the 2nd round winners will be known before the 3rd round groupings are made. But due to the fact that every group will have to have at least 1 MLS team in it, probably about half of the groups are going to be geographically ridiculous.
     
  20. cleazer

    cleazer Member+

    May 6, 2003
    Toledo, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Didn't even think that far ahead, but it looks like the round of 32 (when the top MLS teams enter) will be the same.

    The rule says that all the new entrants that round will have to play a 3rd round winner. That means LA, LA, Seattle, Portland, and RSL cannot play each other in the 4th round. One of those 5 teams will have to play San Jose, and one of them might have to play Colorado (I guess it depends on what other teams are leftover geographically). Seattle and Portland fans rejoice, you skip each other for at least one round where MLS teams can potentially play each other.

    So that means that over in the east, a team like New England could see a somewhat unusual USOC matchup against a team like the Crew or Cincy this year. (They'll have to split those 5 east coast teams-NY/NY/NE/DC/Phi-into at least 3 different pods of 4 for the 4th round.)

    Geographically, it'll be a joke. However, from the standpoint of not playing the same teams year after year, it could really give us some different matchups this year. And given the choice between the two, that's probably what we'd prefer, right?

    (Now of course, all the usual teams could still play each other if they advance to the round of 16, but that's what happens if you win.)

    So in the 4th round, a clear advantage for the top 12 MLS teams, as they'd be far more likely to be drawn against lower league survivors. Though the potential 11 bottom MLS survivors from the 3rd round could still draw a lower league opponent in the 4th round, it wouldn't surprise me if only 1 or 2 of them actually do.
     
  21. cleazer

    cleazer Member+

    May 6, 2003
    Toledo, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Okay, my curiosity got the better of me, so just to see what it might look like this year, here's a guess at what the first round draw could look like. I'm going to put it in spoilers, because it's not real, but of course there's nothing actually spoiler-ish here:

    1st round possibility (open)

    Newtown Pride vs GPS Portland Phoenix
    Western Mass vs New York Pancyprian Freedoms
    FC Motown vs Vereinigung Erzgebirge
    Christos FC vs West Chester United
    Atlantic City FC vs Virginia United
    Med City FC vs Chicago FC United
    Des Moines Menace vs Minneapolis City SC
    Tulsa Athletic vs Louisiana Krewe
    NTX Rayados vs Denton Diablos
    Fort Worth Vaqueros vs Corpus Christi
    Naples United vs The Villages
    South Georgia Tormenta FC 2 vs Miami United FC U23
    Cleveland SC vs North Carolina Fusion U23
    SC United Bantams vs Nashville United
    Crossfire Redmond vs Boulder Harpos
    FC Golden State Force vs FC Davis
    Cal FC vs Ventura County Fusion
    FC Arizona vs Olympic Club
    Chula Vista vs ASC San Diego

    Obviously a number of those matchups could switch around due to numerous teams being in close proximity with each other. But hey, at least I kept the teams from different qualification paths from playing each other. (Though it took a little bit of stretching with the southeast teams.)


    Since the second round games will be announced later this month too, here's a big old wild guess at those. (Keeping in mind that the potential matchups out in a place like California are pretty numerous, so this is just one of many possibilities.) (Also keeping in mind that with 29 games and 25 USL-C teams to fill one side of 25 of those, there will only be 4 games featuring round 1 winners taking on division 3 teams. So because of that a few USL-C teams will have to be involved in some long-distance games.)
    possible second round matches (open)

    Hartford Athletic vs Western Mass/NY Pancyprian Freedoms
    Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs Motown/Vereinigung Erzgebirge
    St Louis FC vs Newtown Pride/GPS Portland Phoenix
    FC Tulsa vs Christos FC/West Chester United
    Indy Eleven vs Michigan Stars
    Louisville City vs Detroit City
    Forward Madison vs Med City/Chicago FC United
    Union Omaha vs Des Moines Menace/Minneapolis City
    North Carolina FC vs Greenville Triumph SC
    Charleston Battery vs South Georgia Tormenta FC
    Stumptown Athletic vs SC United Bantams/Nashville United
    Richmond Kickers vs Atlantic City/Virginia United
    Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Naples United/The Villages
    Miami FC vs South Georgia Tormenta FC 2/Miami United FC U23
    Charlotte Independence vs Cleveland SC/North Carolina Fusion U23
    Birmingham Legion vs Chattanooga Red Wolves
    Memphis 901 FC vs Chattanooga FC
    OKC Energy vs Tulsa Athletic/Louisiana Krewe
    Austin Bold vs NTX Rayados/Denton Diablos
    San Antonio vs Fort Worth Vaqueros/Corpus Christi
    Colorado Springs Switchbacks vs Crossfire Redmond/Boulder Harpos
    Reno vs FC Golden State Force/FC Davis
    Sacramento Republic vs Oakland Roots
    Las Vegas Lights vs Cal FC/Ventura County Fusion
    Orange County SC vs LA Force
    El Paso Locomotive vs California United Strikers
    Phoenix Rising FC vs FC Arizona/Olympic Club
    New Mexico vs San Diego 1904 FC
    San Diego Loyal SC vs Chula Vista/ASC San Diego

    Obviously when you're picking random teams to travel halfway across the country because certain regions are overloaded, there's an element of guesswork involved on my part. But I'm pretty sure I kept teams from the same division from playing each other, which seems to be the main rule for this round.


    As we know, the 3rd round games won't be drawn or announced until after the second round winners are known, so this next bit is veering even further into fiction, however, if you make the assumption that the higher ranked team will win every game, you can start to guess what this next round will look like. Obviously some upsets will happen in the second round, but I sure can't predict them here. So, following the rule that the 3rd round will separate the 40 teams into pods with each pod having at least 1 MLS team in it, here's one possible outcome:
    potential 3rd round pods (open)
    keep in mind that after these pods are made, games will pretty much be drawn at random from within them

    -Columbus, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Richmond
    -Cincinnati, Indy, Louisville, Charlotte
    -Chicago, St Louis, Madison, Omaha
    -Orlando, InterMiami, Tampa Bay, Miami
    -Nashville, Charleston, Stumptown, North Carolina
    -Sporting KC, Phoenix, Reno, San Diego
    -Dallas, Tulsa, Birmingham, Memphis
    -Houston, OKC, Austin, San Antonio
    -Colorado, Colorado Springs, New Mexico, El Paso
    -San Jose, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Orange County




    another option might be:

    -Columbus, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Richmond
    -Cincinnati, Indy, Louisville, Charlotte
    -Chicago, St Louis, Madison, Omaha
    -Orlando, InterMiami, Tampa Bay, Miami, Charleston, North Carolina
    -Nashville, Stumptown, Birmingham, Memphis
    -Sporting KC, Phoenix, Reno, San Diego
    -Houston, Dallas, Tulsa, OKC, Austin, San Antonio
    -Colorado, Colorado Springs, New Mexico, El Paso
    -San Jose, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Orange County

    All of this is far from ideal. Ideally, you'd like to be able to put Sporting KC in a group with Omaha, St Louis, and Tulsa. But that winds up shifting around a whole bunch of other teams.
    Of course, when the 2nd round games are actually played and the 29 winners advancing to the third round are actually finalized, that'll change everything all around. But for now, that was a fun thought exercise.
     
  22. cleazer

    cleazer Member+

    May 6, 2003
    Toledo, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  23. cleazer

    cleazer Member+

    May 6, 2003
    Toledo, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    lol, I just noticed that the Chicago game is being played at Bridgeview
     
  24. ThreeApples

    ThreeApples Member+

    Jul 28, 1999
    Smurf Village
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They explicitly stated in the Jan. 8 announcement that teams from the same pool could be paired in the first round only:

    A team playing its first Open Cup match cannot be paired against another club from the same qualifying pool also playing its first Open Cup match (an exception to this restriction will be made in the First Round in the interest of avoiding extensive travel for Open Division teams).
     
    blacksun repped this.
  25. cleazer

    cleazer Member+

    May 6, 2003
    Toledo, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I know, they've had that same rule/exception for the past few years. It's both logical and ridiculous. Logical because of course it makes it easier for teams to travel, and ridiculous because we'll see some stupid long distance games in rounds 2, 3, and 4 that could be avoided if they kept making geographical exceptions for every round.
     

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