Something to chew on...

The new format of Koushien meant that a lot of the big name schools had a higher probability of missing each other in the draw unlike the old way when say Osaka Touin drew into a bracket of 8, the next team had 7 opportunities to draw into that same bracket meaning that they'd have to go through them in all likelihood to get to the best 8.

And not all draws are created equal either. Given the draw this year, the teams not paired with Osaka Touin would love to have gotten the spot against Tokoha Kikugawa, or for Osaka Touin to draw that spot.

• Day 1 (6 teams) fills out Day 7
• Days 2 & 3 (16 teams) fills out Day 8
• Day 4 & Games 1-2 of Day 5 (12 teams) fills out Day 9

So that gets us from Round 1 to Round 2.  Now in theory, all teams are able to draw for either Day 10 and Day 11.

But, it is mandated (so that teams can get rest), that Day 9 teams must draw into Day 11.

Early on, the teams playing first in round 2 have the whole draw available. But because of the stipulation for Day 9 teams, there are really only have 5 slots available in Day 11, even though when they draw, all slots are in the box.

Back in the old format there were 8 blocks and redraws happen at the quarterfinal and semifinal level.

But in the new format once the teams draw into the 3rd round, it's a little different. Teams within each day become locked in their own bracket for the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals. This is again with rest in mind so that those teams playing in Day 11, while playing back-to-back, at least play late in Day 12.

So looking at that format in our current state...

...there is a chance we could have a quarterfinal matchup between a combination of these 3 teams:

• Saibi (Anraku, of course)
• Osaka Touin (defending champions)
• Sakushin Gakuin (quarter-finalists last year)

!!

The teams on Day 11 (especially Yokohama) are thankful they're over there on Day 10.

The draw after today should be very interesting...