Because in practice, the early rounds of the Battlers Tournament are quite luck based. There's plenty of bots to go around, especially in round one, yet the unseeded nature of the draw can often bite good teams in the backside. Last season I was drawn against Aussie Pride in the first round, and having tried (and narrowly failed, story of my season) to win my two league games that week, I was the first ABBL team to be eliminated. This time, two bots in a row for me, and all the ABBL teams made it through the first round.
There's no ABBL vs ABBL games in round two either, but there are two ABBL vs D2 games, with High School Drop-outs playing Tannums Tantrums, whilst Rimmers play The Generous Men. Some D2 vs D2 match-ups are scattered in there as well, and whilst a D3 team never ends up winning the cup overall, we can't overlook them on a game-by-game basis this early on, as some of them might fancy their luck against a D2 or even ABBL side, especially if they don't rest their starters for the cup game.
I'm still trying to weigh up whether I have a better chance of winning the ABBL or the Battlers Tournament this season. I'd prefer to win the league if possible, but the tournament is still a good trophy to win, as it qualifies you for the B3 and can be considered a 'national championship' in it's own right...