1) All MLS & USL-1 teams enter in the round of 32, along with winners from a qualifying round which includes USL-2, PDL, and USASA teams. 2) Take those final 32 teams and divide them into 8 regions. For each 4 team region, one team (likely from a lower league) will host a doubleheader. If all USL-1 and USL-2 teams qualified, you could end up with 8 groups like this: 1) Carolina-Charleston-Charlotte-Wilmington 2) CHI-KC-Minnesota-??? 3) CHV-LA-SJ-??? 4) CLB-Cleveland-Harrisburg-Pittsburgh 5) COL-RSL-SEA-Portland 6) DAL-HOU-Austin-Miami 7) DC-Maryland-Baltimore-Richmond 8) NE-NY-Rochester-Western Mass
Most of the best tournaments start with a clean slate each year (or four): March Madness, World Cup, etc.... It was a good story to see D.C. win it last year (even though I wanted Charleston) given their struggles, but the qualification process placed them where they deserved to be. Always more rewarding to earn something than have it given to you.
If you'd like to follow the Open Cup on Twitter ... we recently created @usopencup My two cents: When it comes to the World Cup, I completely agree that the defending champ should have to qualify again. Four years is a lot of time, a lot can change. As for annual tournaments, I think that the defending champion should be rewarded with a ticket into the competition the next year.
From your lips to USSF's ears. You'd have to tweak the format a bit if you had one less berth from the winners' league (it's going to be MLS most years, let's be honest), but they have tweaked the format many times over the years.
I'm sure this discussion has gone on for a while (I've been out of the loop), but I can't imagine anyone would have thrown a fit if they would have said "Hey, DCU gets a spot as defending champions... and Kansas City (the next team in the overall table) has to qualify" -- well, I'm sure KC would have bitched, but most soccer people would probably be ok with that.
The FA Cup rules say nothing about where the champion enters so it is theoretically possible for the champ to come in before the third round proper.
defending champ should get a spot, and not have to qualify. Yes DC didn't make the playoffs, bu they did win the tournament, they should be able to enter as one of the 8 MLS teams to defend, without qualifing. Long live Lamar Hunt and the tournament named after him
I think you could qualify all the MLS teams in something closer to the current format. Make the last entry round a 32-team round in place of the current 16-team second round. It would include 16 MLS teams and 16 teams from the 32-team first round. The first round would include: + All USL-1 teams and the USL-2 champion (12) + 8 USAYA teams (2 from each region) The other 12 spots would be filled by a USL-2/PDL play-in tournament, with the final round contested by the eight remaining USL-2 teams and 14 PDL clubs. Or extend the tournament by one round (with MLS teams entering now in the 32-team third round), and have the 64-team first round composed of: All USL-1 and USL-2 teams (20-22 teams) Half of the PDL (34 teams) 8-10 USAYA teams
A play-in tournament?!?!?! You gotta have everybody in the tournament proper or it's not a tournament!
For next year's cup, there will likely be more than 350 teams eligible for the U.S. Open Cup: 16 MLS 22 USL-1/USL-2 68 PDL 250 or so USASA That's a nine-round tournament, minimum, to get everyone in. Even the NCAAs don't do that.
I know this....I was just funnin' the people who are determined that each and every MLS team participate in the tournament proper. Which doesn't seem to me to be mission-critical. Every team in the country has a chance to win the US Open Cup if they are eligible, follow the rules and win enough games.
http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090520&content_id=4844098&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp Why were teams allowed to make more than three substitutions in tonight's D.C.-New York game?
There was an annoucement a few weeks ago which said that they were doing away with 4 subs. Maybe it was for next year, since this year's qualifiers had already started. Or maybe it's for the final tournament only.
Didn't know about the retraction of the 4 subs rule... I was going on from what I've known from past tournament rules. I always thought it was good rule for the smaller/amateur sides in case of injury.
Examiner's match coverage of Seattle-Colorado has been updated with videos and photos: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-...e-winner-as-Sounders-advance-to-Open-Cup-play More photos from Rick Morrison to come later today...
Loved the guy who wrote about it for MLSnet.com: Which reminds me of the shortest joke ever: "Pretentious? Moi?" (BTW, average attendance for the six MLS USOC play-in games this year was 4,724.)