Season Breakdown

Ok, enough with my remedial issues of laundry and groceries; season starts today. Realistically, I'm sure you will hear more about my struggles with domestic life and cultural differences, but today begins my season--not just my regular season but "Cup" season. I assumed that the schedule here would be just as it is in the NCAA with a pre-season, followed by conference play, followed by a tournament. Wrong. Stay with me, because this may get confusing...
In Denmark, teams are split first by "divisions" based on the previous year's record. The top 8 teams join the "Elite" division (where my team is) which is the highest level of competition in the country. The rest are also split into divisions 1,2, etc. to play within a "conference" of their own. Within your conference, you play each team three times throughout the year. The team with the most wins at the end of the season is the Division champion.
During this same time frame, is the "Cup" tournament. The Cup is modeled after a typical NCAA tournament, with the top 16 teams participating. Except this does not take place at the end of the year, but throughout the same time frame as your "regular season". There are 16 teams included because the teams from both the Elite division and the first division are in the running to become Cup champions. Much like NCAA, the top seeded teams play the lowest seeded Division 1 teams, and each round is single elimination. This gives the possibility of a Division 1 team to advance in the tournament, take one of the top 8 places, and therefore be eligible to move up to the Elite division for the following year--consequentiality moving their opponent down to a lower division. Every year is a constant fight to either move up or maintain your position in the elite division. At the end of the year is the Cup championship and from what I've been told, It's a huge event. The winner of the cup gets so-many-thousands of dollars to put toward their team for the next year, as well as the likelihood of more sponsorships.
My match tonight is a cup match. We play a Division 1 team, and it just breaks my heart to end their season the day it starts, but this is apparently a cut-throat game, and I have a Cup to win :)