Competition Structure
As of the 2009–10 competition, the Eurocup consists of five phases:
- Qualifying Round
- The opening phase of the competition, held in October, involves 16 teams and consists of eight two-legged ties, with winners determined by aggregate score. The qualification phase of the competition is run directly by FIBA Europe. The qualification round teams are a part of FIBA's EuroChallenge competition. The winners advance to the second-tier Eurocup competition, while the losers stay in the Regular Season phase of the third-tier EuroChallenge.
- Regular Season
- The next phase of the competition, played from November to January, is analogous to the Regular Season of the Euroleague. It involves a total of 32 teams—18 automatic qualifiers; the eight Qualifying Round winners; and six teams that parachute in from the Euroleague, specifically the four losers of that competition's first Qualifying Round and the two losers of the second Qualifying Round. The participants are drawn into groups of four teams, which proceed to play home-and-away within the group, with the top two teams continuing in the competition.
- Last 16
- This phase, held from late January to mid-March and introduced for the 2008–09 competition, is directly analogous to, and conducted in the same manner as, the Top 16 phase of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. The participants are drawn into groups of four teams and play home-and-away within the group, with the top two teams advancing to the next phase.
- Quarterfinals
- This phase, held in late March, is new for the 2009–10 season. Previously, the survivors of the Last 16 advanced to a Final 8, a knockout tournament of one-off matches held at a single site.
- The eight surviving teams, paired so that the winner of one group plays the runner-up of another group, now compete in two-legged ties, with the winner determined by aggregate score. The group winner in each tie will receive home advantage in the second leg. A unique feature of this round is that games tied after regulation do not automatically go to overtime. Overtime is only employed at the end of regulation in the second leg if it is needed to break a tie on aggregate.
- Eurocup Finals
- The last stage of the Eurocup was reduced from eight teams to four from 2009–10. This stage is now directly analogous to the Euroleague Final Four, and like that stage of the Euroleague, consists of one-off knockout semifinals followed by a single-game final. Unlike the Euroleague Final Four, in which the third-place game and final are held two days after the semifinals, the corresponding games of the Eurocup are held the day after the semifinals.
Read more about this topic: Eurocup Basketball
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