The crew are back in the cup and look to party like it's 2002. It looks like the crew passed on hosting the first round along with several teams. Maybe that was an error in the press release. It will be a much smaller format with new roster/gameday squad rules. https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/f...ms-finalized-for-2026-lamar-hunt-u-s-open-cup
"Teams not participating in the 2026 Leagues Cup qualify for the Open Cup, ranked based on 2025 Supporters Shield Standings." Why would the Crew not have qualified for Leagues Cup in 2026? This is odd.
You can also read it as "all teams participating in leagues cup automatically qualify and the remaining teams (no CCC or Canadians) would qualify based on SS standings." Then the top 4 teams from the list of non leagues cup teams in each conference host? Looks like other press releases look a little different than ours. No one else included seeding
So maybe we are choosing to participate and might still be in Leagues Cup? Only time will tell I guess. Who knows what or if Leagues Cup actually happens in 26 anyway.
Word from reddit is no Leagues Cup in 2026. Not officially announced and from an Applebee's waitress is seems.
Makes sense since MLS is shutting down for a month for the WC as it is. But one might expect there’d be an announcement of some sort.
Here's the other plot twist: Note: Players from 15 MLS NEXT Pro teams affiliated with Division I entrants may appear in the competition for their MLS Division I affiliate in the Round of 32 (subject to competition roster regulations). So it sounds like it MLS teams have the option to call up their MLS Next Pro rosters for the Round of 32, if they so choose. (Capybaras wearing Crew uniforms.)
The people who got quite upset over MLS not being in the USOC the last few years might have plenty of material this year. "Why didn't the Crew FO promote the game? We could have had way more people if they did." "MLS teams need to respect the history and play their real lineups." Oh well. There's no pleasing some people. They could have showed up last year.
That is my take. Remember, 3 competitions max. MLS + 2 Cups. CCC is tops, then LC, then USOC/Canadian Championship. Teams that whiff on CCC AND LC (non playoff teams that did not win the domestic Cup) only play 2. Since we are not CCC, we should play the other two. Though we can use Crew2 for the Round of 32 game. https://www.leaguescup.com/news/lea...t-4-september-6-participating-clubs-announced
I think it is a good change because it allows more flexibility. I want the Crew in USOC games. If it is ALL Crew2, I'll be disappointed.
If it's ALL Crew 2, then it needs to be advertised and priced as such. (Shoutout to the Nordecke Board last year for the tickets as a membership benefit!)
Am I the only one wishing we were entering in this round? We might not be able beat the opponent, but at least we would possibly score a goal.
Some second round games were played last night. Of "local" interest, Pittsburgh Riverhounds defeated Virginia Dream 2-0, while Indy Eleven were upset at home by Union Omaha 2-1, mostly due to Indy's goalkeeper getting a red card while the game was still 0-0. Local games tonight include Louisville at Lexington and Detroit City at Flint City. The draw for the Round of 32 will be tomorrow morning (April 2) at 9am. The games (including the Crew) will be 2 weeks from today, April 14-15. Looking at the geography, NYC, NYRB, NE, and DC are all in the Cup this year, so it's reasonable to assume that Pittsburgh will get hooked up with one of them. So I have a feeling the Crew will get the winner of tonight's game in either Michigan or Kentucky. That said, San Jose is the one and only west coast MLS representative this year, so someone from Minnesota/STL/KC/Fire/Crew will have to go out there to make up the numbers, with another probably heading to Tennessee or Florida or something. Tune in tomorrow morning to find out I guess.
I think there was an exception or two due to stadium availability, but the idea seemed to be that teams that are in Leagues Cup (and hosting games there obviously) would be away in the Open Cup, while teams not in the Leagues Cup would get to host an Open Cup game (thus ensuring at least one "other/special/whatever" game for their fans and team to host). So since we get at least 3 LC home games (and probably only 3), we're on the road for the first USOC game. Supposedly the draw tomorrow will also determine the potential home team for a Round of 16 matchup.
Crew going to Richmond, then would be on the road vs DC or One Knoxville (unless One Knox's stadium isn't available again)
When El Paso beats both Austin and Houston, will they win the Copa Tejas, or whatever the hell it's called? Speaking of rat-f#ck sacks of sh!t, the last time we played in Richmond, Stover was in goal.