The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is a weird place. Some teams, like Sporting Kansas City, take it very seriously. SKC have won three of the last six US Open Cups (2012, 2015, 2017) and if they win this year, they’ll tie the original Bethlehem Steel and Maccabi Los Angeles as all-time leaders with five. They are already tied with modern era leaders Chicago Fire and the Seattle Sounders with four titles.
Another thing that’s weird about the tournament is that teams down on their regular season luck can still try to get a trophy.