[rick.oliver]

The prize for prevailing in the Elimination Rounds is an invitation to the Championship event. The top seeded teams after the Qualification rounds have, by and large, earned the right to form an alliance which affords them what they believe to be the greatest opportunity to win their matches and claim that prize.

(I wrote "by and large" because random pairings and other circumstances don't always even out over ten or so Qualification Matches.)

The process has already been somewhat diluted by the introduction a few years ago of the serpentine draft system. This can give lower seeded teams an advantage under certain circumstances.

Prohibiting the top eight seeded teams from selecting among themselves will in no way increase the number of teams who have the opportunity to compete in the Elimination Rounds. It may make for closer Elimination Round matches. While it may afford two other teams the opportunity to compete in the Final Elimination matches, it may also deny a team with a more competitive robot a spot in the Championship event.