FA Cup third round draw: details, viewing info, discussion

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not that time of the year. The time when the FA dumps a box of 64 ping pong balls into a big ol’ hopper, blows some air through it, and then picks the balls out, two at a time, to determine the 32 matchups for the third round of the FA Cup. This round, of course, is the first round featuring Premier League teams.

The great thing about the FA Cup draw, to me, is that it’s unseeded - I meant that almost literally above, in that the teams just get picked out of the same bowl or bucket or whatever schmancy apparatus the FA uses these days. The first ball out is the home team, the second is the visiting team; there’s no restrictions on who can play each other or anything, it’s just a pure random draw, and I love it.

Arsenal are ball number two, which in a random draw I’m not sure why that matters, but there we are.

The ties resulting from this draw will be played the weekend of January 6.

WHAT: FA Cup Third Round draw

WHEN: 11AM PT/2PM ET (approximately - there’ll be other stuff going on during the show as well, the draw itself should start around 11.10)

WHERE: Some TV studio I assume

HOW TO WATCH: In the US, you can’t. At least not without a VPN or a stream - and this will serve as your reminder to not discuss illegal streams here, as that is against SBN rules. However, the BBC is streaming it live, so if you have a VPN or can otherwise access that stream, that’s how you can see it. Any number of websites will have live-updating threads about it, as well, including the Telegraph.

This is your thread to talk about the draw, so however you’re following it, have at it here!