More people were cynical about Kyoto being able to defend its title after seeing the results of lot-draw. The forecasters were overwhelmingly pessimistic about the five-time champion.
It was the same for the gambling rings. Olly Casino, the leader of the four major gambling rings, immediately adjusted Kyoto's odds of defending its title to no more than 1 to 100.
The odds of the crowd-favorite Eastern University winning the title were only 1 to 1.5. Even Military Institute, which was in the same zone as Kyoto, was only at 1 to 65.
Per average performances, Kyoto would meet the top ten universities in the other matches. They would probably meet Military Institute in the eighth to fourth rounds if they waited patiently. They thought they would benefit from this and keep Kyoto out of the top four.
A bespectacled member of Taiwu Institute's team complained frowningly, "Captain, why is our luck so bad this year? We'll run into Kyoto in the first round!"