[Al Skierkiewicz]

Alex,
I have to point out that those teams that made it into the finals are not there because of their team number. However, those teams have recognized the advantage to scouting the division partners and being prepared to pick the best alliance. Our decisions are based on a variety of factors observed by our scouting team and long discussions in a strategy meeting.
I think it is also necessary to point out that there are holes in the numbering sequence for the teams that have dropped out over the years. While we are now over 4000 in team number, there are not 4000 teams. There is likely more drops in the three digit numbers than in the other groups.