Sacramento Republic grouped with Reno 1868, Tacoma Defiance, Portland Timbers 2

The group is set for Sacramento Republic FC in the restarted 2020 USL Championship regular season, the league revealing Thursday which regionalized group SRFC will play in.

To be honest, given the geography it was no surprise, Sacramento are in Group A with rival Reno 1868 FC, as well as Cascadia clubs Tacoma Defiance and Portland Timbers 2.

Republic FC will play the bulk of their remaining 15 games in the regular season against these three opponents, with three games of that 15 coming against other outside but still regional teams, probably Las Vegas and/or one or more of the Southern California teams.

All things considered, this is a reasonable group for Sacramento from an on-field perspective. Tacoma have talent but have prioritized development with their MLS2 squad, to great effect for MLS with the Seattle Sounders being defending MLS Cup champion. Portland have been literally all over the place in terms of their MLS2 squad over the years, they are an absolute wild card. And Reno will be a tough opponent, although Sacramento have the ability to go toe-to-toe with them, no question.

Considering most teams (except Tacoma and San Diego Loyal) have played just one game this year, it’s hard to really project how it will go, but Sacramento seem to have gotten about as good a draw within totally logical geographical parameters as possible. Now, they will need to go out and perform.

The season is expected to restart on or around July 11. We’ll get you details of the updated schedule when it drops.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.