Quote:
Originally posted by Andrew
I don't think the change from open registration to "qualifying" registration was done to increase competitiveness. But rather, to stem to excessive growth of the championship event.
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Well, that was the reason, but I think it still has had some effect on the competitiveness of the event. The competition has gotten a little more stiff since the change, but it still remains fairly open. Since the odd/even still allows a lot of teams in, the competitive nature is not as great as it could be in a qualification-only system.
One thing I do think it does is increases the prestige of being able to attend. As it becomes harder to qualify for the Championship, the honor of being one of the 280 or so teams there will increase. I think it also makes teams more grateful for the chance to attend. When anyone could go, it wasn't as big of a deal. I know last year, though, my team wasn't pre-qualified, and so we put in an incredible amount of effort to ensure that we would make it, and ended up winning the Buckeye Regional and qualifying. When we got to Nationals, we appreciated it a lot more than we did the year before, when we had just signed up. It felt a lot more special to know that we got in on merit, not just on team number.
So, I think that things are slowly moving in that direction, though it still remains open. As the Championship becomes more selective, which it surely will, the level of competitiveness required to qualify will definitely make the Championship more competive.