Announcing The Union Cup

More UWFFL News and announcing The Union Cup

Next Week we will be simulating the 2015 Champions Cup.  Participants will include:

Anchorage Orcas (UWFFL Bowl XV Champions)
British Columbia Lumberjacks (2014-15 Maple Leaf Cup Champions)
Charleston Navigators (2014 Summer Developmental League Champions)
Minnesota Mustangs (UWFFL Bowl XIV Champion*)
New York Sharks (2015 World Bowl Champions)
St. Joseph's Couriers (AAIFA Bowl I Champions)

(*-As the 2015 Champions Cup is the inaugural Champions Cup, the previous UWFFL Bowl winner received the Champions Cup spot that would have gone to the returning Champions Cup Champion)

The winner of the 2015 Champions Cup will return to defend their title in the 2021 Champions Cup

Beginning in 2021 the Champions Cup will have eight participants:

UWFFL Bowl XVI Champion (Fall 2020 UWFFL Champion)
Gridiron Bowl I Champion (2021 GSL Champion)
World Bowl Champion (2020 La Lega Champion)
2015 Champions Cup Champion
2020 Maple Leaf Cup Champion
2020 Continental League Champion
2020 Division II National Champion
2015 Champions Cup Runner-Up

Teams will be placed in 2 four team groups, with three weeks of group play with the top two teams in each group advancing to the Semifinals.

Beginning in 2022, the eighth spot in the Champions Cup (the one given to the 2015 Champions Cup Runner-Up in 2021), will go to the Union Cup Champion.

To simplfy things and to make time for a new competition we have decided to skip for now the UWFFL 2016-2019 seasons in order to abbreviate the simulation "catch-up" period and will then move forward after the 2015 Champions Cup and complete the simulation of the Fall 2020 UWFFL Season during the two week period from Monday, April 19 through Sunday, May 2.    The '16 through '19 seasons may still be simulated at another time (perhaps Spring of 2022) however promotion and relegation will occur directly from the 2015 season to the 2020 season.

The reason we have decided to acclerate the off season catch-up period is because we believe it would be more exciting to focus on current competitions instead of focusing on the past.  We want to complete the 2020 UWFFL Fall Season Simulation by May 2 in order to begin the Union Cup.

Introducing the Union Cup.......

The 2021 Union Cup

A second summer competition for teams that don't qualify for the Champions Cup, it will feature 116 Teams from across the UWFFL and GSL, in a single-elimination fixed bracket tournament.  Games will be played on Wednesdays from May into September as follows, however GSL Teams will not particpate until their GSL season is over.  The Salt Lake Trappers, the first announced expansion team for the 2022 GSL Season will be awarded the space in the Union Cup that would go to the winner of the 2020 Maple Leaf Cup, which will qualify instead for the Champions Cup.

In the world of soccer it is common for teams to compete for multiple intra-league and domestic competitions.  (see FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, the Europa Cup, etc.)  

These competitions create additional excitement for their fans as well as additional opportunities for teams to win "hardware".  While the world of American football doesn't do that to any extent, a primary reason is that players can only play so many games in a season in the grueling collision sport that is gridiron football.  With imaginary players this isn't as much of a concern, as medical studies have shown that imaginary players have a much greater ability to withstand increased competition than their real life counterparts.

The Union Cup Final will be on Wednesday, September 8.  The UWFFL Fall Season will then begin the following week on Thursday, September 16, 2021.

The competition will consist of eleven "Preliminary Rounds" and five rounds of "Competition Proper".  The preliminary rounds will feature teams qualifying from the lower tier of the UWFFL Pyramid.  The teams that advance from the preliminary rounds will face teams from the UWFFL Premier League & the GSL as indicated below.

Teams will be placed in a fixed bracket, to be drawn at times to be announced at a later date.

Teams will receive multiple byes based upon their performance during the Fall 2020 (UWFFL) and Spring 2021 Season (GSL).  The teams that are the Gridiron Bowl, World Bowl and UWFFL Bowl runner-ups will receive byes all the way to the Union Cup Quarterfinals and would only need to win three games to win the Union Cup, while the teams that finish in the last two places in the UWFFL Division II leagues would need to win nineteen games to win the Union Cup.  

As in the Champions Cup, teams in the Union Cup will be permitted two uniform combos and one field design for the duration.  They are encouraged to create a light & a dark version of their alternate uniform and helmet designs, however they may submit any two uniform combos they wish. (a light & a dark).  These two uniform combos, beginning with the First Round of Competition Proper (Wednesday July 21st, see below) should also include the Union Cup patch logo, which will be unveiled in June.

In May we will have a contest to redesign the UWFFL Logo & and in June we will have a contest to design a Union Cup Logo.  Most likely it should incorporate the GSL logo & the new UWFFL logo.  Further details about these contests will released at a later date.

Games will be simulated according to modified UWFFL rules which will take into account teams' relative strength, including an adjustment formula that will ensure that teams from the GSL are given a comparable rating placing them on a level playing field with comparable teams in the UWFFL Premier level.  The simulation will also take into consideration relative strengths for the teams in the lower UWFFL leagues as well and will adjust those teams accordingly.

Preliminary Round One - Wednesday May 5th will feature (EIGHT) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) teams that finish in 11th & 12th Places in each of the four UWFFL Division II Leagues in the Fall 2020 season.

Preliminary Round Two - Wednesday May 12th will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (4) winners from Preliminary Round One.
- The (12) teams that finish in 8th, 9th, 10th Places in each of the four UWFFL Division II Leagues in the Fall 2020 season.

Preliminary Round Three - Wednesday May 19th will feature (EIGHT) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from Preliminary Round Two.

Preliminary Round Four - Wednesday May 26th will feature (14) teams as follows:

- The (4) winners from Preliminary Round Three.
- The (EIGHT) teams that finish in 6th and 7th Places in each of the four UWFFL Division II Leagues in the Fall 2020 season.
- The lowest (2) teams of the 4 teams that finished in 5th Place in each of the four UWFFL Division II Leagues in the Fall 2020 season.

Preliminary Round Five - Wednesday June 2nd will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (7) winners from Preliminary Round Four.
- The highest (2) teams of the 4 teams that finished in 5th Place in each of the four UWFFL Division II Leagues in the Fall 2020 season.
- The (5) teams that finish in 8th - 12th Places in the UWFFL Continental League.
- The (2) teams that finish in 23rd & 24th Places in the UWFFL La Lega International League.

Preliminary Round Six - Wednesday June 9th will feature (12) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from Preliminary Round Five.
- The (4) teams that finish in 4th - 7th Places in the UWFFL Continental League.

Preliminary Round Seven - Wednesday June 16th will feature (EIGHT) teams as follows:

- The (6) winners from Preliminary Round Six.
- The (2) teams that finish in 2nd & 3rd Places in the UWFFL Continental League.

Preliminary Round Eight - Wednesday June 23rd will feature (12) teams as follows:

- The (4) winners from Preliminary Round Seven.
- The (EIGHT) teams that finish in 3rd & 4th Places in each of the four UWFFL Division II Leagues in the Fall 2020 season.

Preliminary Round Nine - Wednesday June 30th will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (6) winners from Preliminary Round Eight.
- The (4) teams that finish in 2nd Place in each of the four UWFFL Division II Leagues in the Fall 2020 season.
- The (6) teams that finish in 17th - 22nd Places in the UWFFL La Lega International League.

Preliminary Round Ten - Wednesday July 7th will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from Preliminary Round Nine.
- The (4) teams that finish in 1st Place in each of the four UWFFL Division II Leagues in the Fall 2020 season.
- The (4) teams that finish in 13th - 16th Places in the UWFFL La Lega International League.

Preliminary Round Eleven - Wednesday July 14th will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from Preliminary Round Ten.
- The (EIGHT) teams that finish in 5th - 12th Places in the UWFFL La Lega International League.

Competition Proper

First Round - Wednesday July 21st will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from Preliminary Round Eleven.
- The (7) teams that finish with the 18th - 24th best records in the 2021 GSL Season.
- The (1) team that finishes with the 12th best record in Fall 2020 UWFFL Premier League.

Second Round - Wednesday July 28th will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from the First Round.
- The (6) teams that finish with the 12th - 17th best records in the 2021 GSL Season.
- The (2) teams that finish with the 10th & 11th best records in Fall 2020 UWFFL Premier League.

Third Round - Wednesday August 4th will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from the Second Round.
- The (1) team that finishes with the 11th best record in the 2021 GSL Season.
- The (2) teams that lose in the Wild Card round of the 2021 GSL Playoffs.
- The (3) teams that finish with the 7th - 9th best records in Fall 2020 UWFFL Premier League.
- The (2) teams that lose in the UWFFL La Lega International League Semifinals.

Fourth Round - Wednesday August 11th will feature (16) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from the Third Round.
- The (4) teams that lose in the Divisional Playoff round of the 2021 GSL Playoffs.
- The (2) teams that lose in the Wild Card round of the Fall 2020 UWFFL Premier League Playoffs.
- The (2) teams that lose in the Semifinal round of the Fall 2020 UWFFL Premier League Playoffs.

Fifth Round - Wednesday August 18th will feature (10) teams as follows:

- The (EIGHT) winners from the Fourth Round.
- The (2) teams that lose in the Conference Championship games in the 2021 GSL Playoffs.

Quarterfinals - Wednesday August 25th will feature (EIGHT) teams as follows:

- The (5) winners from the Fifth Round.
- The runner-up in the World Bowl (the UWFFL La Lega International League Championship).
- The runner-up in the Gridiron Bowl (the GSL League Championship).
- The runner-up in the UWFFL Bowl (the UWFFL Premier League Championship).

Semifinals - Wednesday September 1st will feature (4) teams as follows:

- The (4) winners from the Quarterfinal Round.

The Union Cup - Wednesday September 8th will feature the winners from the semifinals.

Wow 116 teams...a delicious cornucopia of uni design goodness. Rob I`m just trying to remember, is the Continental League its own entity or does it consist of teams in the other Division II leagues ( EA, CL, PCC, etc). I`m asking as I believe I have the Connecticut Convicts in that league.

The Continental League is a separate entity that was formed so that Charter Teams such as your Connecticut Convicts will have a place to play without being in danger of falling out of the league upon relegation.  Connecticut will compete in the inaugural 2020 season with teams such as the Tampa Terror, Chicago Cyclones and Texas Timberwolves.  

Charter Teams are original TBFFL teams or teams that have won a TBFFL or UWFFL Championship. The original Connecticut Convicts were the 2001 TBFFL Champions.

It is separate from the main Division II Conferences but on the same tier.  There is no limit to the amount of teams a person may own in the Continental League, however there is no expansion into the Continental League, it is only for Charter Teams or teams designated by the commissioner to fill out places in the league.  The Champion of the Continental League may earn it's way back into the Premier League, but it is not guaranteed.  The most recent Continental League Champion will be invited to the Premier League if and when a Charter Team is relegated.