Put first year Jou in Souma's position during the festival matchup (Jou doesn't have his rep to depend on and Shiomi replaces Megumi), would he be able to beat Kuga after the whole thing ends? How about on day one?
If not, he gets first year Gin and 2nd year middle school Azami to help him around the time Mimasaki and Takumi started to help Souma.