*Incoming annual rant alert*
I complain about this every year…and this year is going to be no exception. I LOATHE the fact that teams on each side of the bracket play on the same day…it has never, ever made sense to me and I don’t know why it has never been addressed. They say it is to maintain the integrity of the bracket, but all it does is give the Thursday winners the advantage of a day off. To me, it is more important to keep the teams in each bracket in the same time slot…which is essentially what they used to do with old 6 team format when they had afternoon and evening pools.
Plus, it would make each bracket more fair in terms of days off. For example, #1 Alberta might play 3 in 4 while #2 UNB has to go 3 in 3….they should both have similar paths.
My ideal schedule:
Thursday
Afternoon - #1 vs. #8
Evening - #2 vs. #7
Friday
Afternoon - #4 vs. #5
Evening - #3 vs. #6
Saturday
Afternoon - 1/8 vs. 4/5 winner
Evening - 2/7 vs. 4/5 winner
- top two teams play on the first day and get the advantage of a day off if they win. #1 seed plays earlier so they get a little bit more rest.
- I would actually make this mandatory and do away with giving the host team any leeway when they play. Does having the host wait until Friday to play (instead of Thursday and possibly losing) really make a difference in overall attendance like has always been argued?
- each side of the bracket plays in the same time slot Thurs/Fri/Sat…either the afternoon or evening. A much more structured set-up than we see currently when you could play Thursday night and then Saturday afternoon (and then Sunday night)…or Friday afternoon and then Saturday night. I remember in 2017 UNB played games at, I think, 8PM on Thursday night, 12PM Saturday, and 1PM Sunday.
- the only issue I see is trying to work around the cross-country travel, particularly for western teams coming east. Not sure Alberta would love to play Thursday afternoon, for instance.