Tehel Cup Preview

Since Brian has gone rogue on me I guess I can give the people more of what they want. So let’s start with a full BDSL Tehel Cup breakdown. We’ll go region by region here and see what we can expect from this years Cup.
 
Northwest Region:


Difficulty: 3^rd of 4


Divisional breakdown: 3 Premier, 3 Championship,  2 1^st division, 5 2^nd division, 3 3^rd division


Best initial match ups: SoHo FC v BSC Raiders; Beast City SC v Celtic Hoops


Best potential match up: SoHo FC/BSC Raiders v FC Yemen; Crimson Fire FC v Dutch FC


Best draw for a lower club: Rampart FC – The path to the Sweet 16 is there for them with two extremely winnable games. But get to that round and its park the bus time vs whatever Premier powerhouse they face. But you win that one game (unlikely but hey Woodland Wanderers have a Tehel Cup) and they could make it to the Final Four.


Worst draw for a higher club: Lykan FC – Poor Lykan…. Last year they draw Yemen Elite in round 1 while this season they face FC Yemen. Even if they manage to pull an upset there SoHo or BSC Raiders await round two. Not pretty.


Final Four favorite: BSC Raiders – Its hard to chose another team here even with the defending champs in the region. BSC improved from last year in my opinion and that’s why they are my favorite. After back to back Premier titles I think they might want a return to Tehel Cup glory


Dark horse: Dutch FC – For all the reasons Brian mentioned in his D3 breakdown this team may say D3 but I think they’ll play more like a D1 side. With that in mind they could brush aside all of these teams easily until reaching the Elite Eight where a Premier side will likely await. They have the experience to play any of those 3 teams tough.


Upset Alert: Crimson Fire FC over Buffalo Bantu


Region Winner: BSC Raiders – But I think the dream ends there for Dutch FC. Raiders move onto the final four searching for their next Tehel Cup crown.
 
Southwest Region:


Difficulty: 1^st of 4


Divisional breakdown: 4 Premier, 4 Championship, 3 1^st division, 2 2^nd division, 2 3^rd division


Best initial match ups: SPAL Buffalo FC v Buffalo United SS; Buffalo Celtic vs Panthers


Best potential match ups: Amherst Sharpshooters v Buffalo United SS; Niagara FC v Yemen Elite


Best draw for a lower club: No one. Not going to lie while all the first round games are quality match ups across the board surviving past round 2 would be a tough ask for any club lower than D1. A pretty tough region


Worst draw for a higher club: Buffalo United SS – Drew a renewed SPAL Buffalo FC in round 1 then to progress it could be all premier to the final. They’ll be tested each and every time out.


Final Four favorite: Yemen Elite – Faress and his teams just seem to have some Tehel Cup magic ever 
year. They have had deep runs in the last few Cups and I don’t see how they aren’t in the Elite Eight at the very least again. There they’ll play a beat up team from the upper part of this region. Falls nicely for them.


Dark Horse: Niagara FC – Hard to pick one here but if Niagara can keep up their stout defensive record and supplement it with some actual goals they should make it to Sweet 16 easy. Then you just need to play smart and hope for the best.


Upset Alert: I honestly didn’t pick a single one. Best chances are Panthers over Buffalo Celtic but their Thursday attendance is usually questionable or OP Alliance over Clarence but I just don’t think the youngsters on OP Alliance are ready just yet for that.


Region Winner: Amherst Sharpshooters – They are dying for some silverware and shot at USASA qualifying. I think this season they will be razor focused and won’t ever have attendance issues. I wouldn’t want to play them in any round.
 
Northeast Region:


Difficulty: 2^nd of 4


Divisional Breakdown: 3 Premier, 4 Championship, 6 1^st division, 2 2^nd division, 1 3^rd division


Best initial match ups: Southtowns FPFC v Catan FC; East Aurora FC v Elmwood Saints


Best potential match ups: East Aurora FC v Celtic United; Queenston FC vs Celtic United/East Aurora FC; 


Best draw for a lower club: Tonawanda United – Seeing as how Tonawanda has played all teams here until they would get to the Elite Eight, they should fear no one. Good look at Sweet 16 at least.


Worst draw for a higher club: BSC International – It almost doesn’t matter who they drew. Fact are facts and they just don’t have much focus in Tehel Cup. Now they draw Celtic United in round one? Likes like 1 and done for them.


Final Four favorite: Queenston FC – Pains me to say it but this team is just very steady and consistent. They’ll have maybe their strongest line ups on Thursdays to boot so its hard to not like the chances of them reaching a third straight berth in the Final Four.


Dark Horse: Elmwood Saints – Don’t sleep on this squad. It might be an extremely tough ask in there section but they have been playing against high level competition all year in indoor. At the very least they won’t be afraid to go toe to toe with any of the higher level teams they’ll see.


Upset Alert: Tonawanda United makes the Sweet 16 with wins over RVS and FC Quake


Region Winner: The above is actually the smaller of my two. East Aurora FC knocks out Celtic United and Queenston FC on their way to the Final Four.
 
Southeast Region:


Difficulty: 4^th of 4


Divisional Breakdown: 2 Premier; 1 Championship, 2 1^st division, 5 2^nd division, 6 3^rd division


Best initial match ups: FK Bosnia v Celtic Classic; Roos FC v Wolfpack


Best potential match ups: Rogue FC v Roos FC; Pendleton United FC vs Roos FC



Best draw for a lower club: Pendleton United FC – The youngsters how a pretty straight forward path to the Sweet 16 were they’ll be tested against Roos FC most likely. Would be a great first year scalp for this squad.


Worst Draw for a higher club: None – The 3 clubs in the top two divisions are licking their chops looking at the potential opponent pool. Maybe this motivates these lower teams but this region is easily the weakest of the 4.


Final Four favorite: Rogue FC – Realistically they could sleep walk their way to the Elite Eight. They shouldn’t even concede a goal in their first three games. In the Elite 8 they’ll know they’ve already beat Roos FC and Wolfpack would be even better.


Dark Horse: Pendleton United FC – The only team out of all challengers I think could trouble one of the three teams. So they sort of earn this by default.



Region Winner: Roos FC – Last year we were the favorite to win our region before Boomslang FC shocked us. This year I would best most people now have these roles reversed with Rogue FC the favorite over Roos. I think we return the favor of last year this season.