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It's a good idea, and yes something should be done to make this tournament a bit more fair / interesting.

But the B3 format works because among 110 to 120 teams, 32 of them reach the final phase. Which means you can be qualified with a 6-2 record. And each season, 2 to 8 teams finish the round-robin stage undefeated, representing an average of 4%.

The biggest BB countries (Spain and Italia) have more than 1100 active teams. So on average 50 teams would be undefeated after the first 8 games. And your proposal is that only 8 teams can qualify to the next round (quarterfinals), which means an undefeated team would only have a 16% probability of qualifying.

And it's about the same in medium-sized countries like yours. As soon as you get one defeat, chances are you won't make it to the next phase. So what's the point of having a group or round-robin phase if any defeat means you're eliminated ?

All of that without mentionning that a round-robin phase makes sense with teams that are around the same level, while the draw can be extremely unfair when it mixes teams from 50k$ to 1M+ salaries. And to me the percentage of undefeated teams after 8 games would be even higher in this configuration, cause that's the global density which makes an 8-0 record really hard to get in the B3. So the 4% approximation I used should probably be increased.

But I like your idea.

Maybe a solution would be to make 2 separated tournaments :
- One for the D1 to D3 teams (168 teams at most) with exactly the same system as the B3, meaning 32 teams would be qualified in the elimination phase. One or 2 defeats and you'd still be able to qualify. At least 8 competitive games for each teams.
- And a cup for the D4-D5 teams which could follow the actual system. Since the competition would be easier, they could play more games and it would be easier for new teams and more rewarding than playing 10 scrimmages a season.

So that experimented teams wouldn't be too tempted to fall in D4, then the reward prices should be lower for the second cup (20k$ a game until quarterfinals for example ?)



Last edited by slamdunk9 at 4/8/2021 5:10:26 AM

I really don't care about my case cause I probably will stop BB in 2 or 3 seasons, or maybe sleep in D4 until the passion comes back.

But your answer shows that your proposal will reward luck more than merit... I don't see how it can be a real improvement to the actual system. I already see the result, no matter the size of the country, all 8 qualified teams would have had really easy draws (in order to have the best point average). Among these 8 teams, one or two will come from first division and destroy the other teams which have made it to the quarterfinals. Winner will then be the best one of the lucky teams... Yaaaay

And still, I can't support a system where undefeated teams can be eliminated. Makes no sense to me

Last edited by slamdunk9 at 4/8/2021 5:38:14 AM

Your second option is just the actual system of the national tournament. Difference is, defeated teams (which are most likely already eliminated) play against each other for a little money rather than a scrimmage.

First option is the one I understood at the beginning cause it's like the B3, and I already told why I don't see it being an improvement.

But it was just my two cents saying I like the idea but that it should be rearanged cause there are imho some weaknesses.

Edit : I made a calculation that was totally wrong lol

Well I guess that could work. Still find a bit weird to work with ranking and PA while the opposition can be soooo different between each team. But I have no problem with the idea of giving more money to small teams and making them play more competitive games

Last edited by slamdunk9 at 4/8/2021 9:05:19 AM

imo it's a brilliant idea and i would suggest to use here a system (that works in chess tournaments), called "swiss system"

Great news, as a former chess player, can't wait for it i hope your idea will be tested in Utopia next season!!