Stick With Me Here
Imagine that there was some North American football tournament, where all the professional teams got together and played one-off games until one team stood alone. There would be a pretty decent chance that you'd think the winner would be one of the top NFL teams.
Then imagine that the Final Four was the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Edmonton Eskimos, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and the Tennessee Titans. That would be pretty unrealistic, wouldn't you think?
It's pretty close to what happened in the competition the English call the FA Cup. Three of the teams remaining in the competition come from English Football's second level. The remaining Top Flight team is one that is capable of a good performance but will ultimately fall short of being a real threat for the league title.
Portsmouth will undoubtedly be the favorites to claim the Cup, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see one of the lower division teams lifting the silverware and claiming a coveted spot in the UEFA Cup in doing so.
I guess this is why you play the games.