Eurocup 2016/2017 teams announced
12 countries will be represented when the 2016/2016 Eurocup season tips off later in the year, with 24 teams lining up for a shot at the title. The Regular Season lineup was approved today and the Eurocup will once again provide the kind of exciting hoops that have made it a hit with fans.
Five of the clubs have won this competition before, so will now what it takes to go the distance through a long continental season to win the gold. Among them is Valencia Basket, the winningest club in Eurocup history with titles in 2003, 2010, and 2014. Joining the Spaniards will be other former winners Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (2004), Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (2005, 2009), Khimki Moscow Region (2012, 2015) and Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (2013).
The competition format will see the tournament start with four groups of six teams, with each group giving clubs a round robin of 10 games against opposition. The best four from each group will progress to the Top 16 in January 2017, where they will play six games in a new format for the Eurocup. Each of the knock-out stages (quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) will consist of a best-of-three playoff series.
As always, the 2017 Eurocup champion will compete in the following season’s Euroleague.
Here are the 2016-17 Eurocup clubs:
AEK Athens (Greece)
ALBA Berlin (Germany)
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (ABA League)
Cedevita Zagreb (ABA League)
Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari (Italy)
Dolomiti Energia Trento (Italy)
Dominion Bilbao Basket (Wild card) (Spain)
FC Bayern Munich (Germany)
FoxTown Cantu (Wild card) (Italy)
Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia (Italy)
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (Israel)
Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas (Spain)
Khimki Moscow Region (Russia)
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (Lithuania)
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (Russia)
Nizhny Novgorod (Wild card) (Russia)
Partizan NIS Belgrade (ABA League)
ratiopharm Ulm (Germany)
Stelmet Zielona Gora (Poland)
UCAM Murcia (Spain)
Unicaja Malaga (Spain)
Union Olimpija Ljubljana (Wild card) (ABA League)
Valencia Basket (Spain)
Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)