[Anthony Towne]

One idea I had back before forums this year was that each regional should have a certain number of teams qualify for nationals. Let me explain:

This coming year, for instance, even number teams have basically free rides to Championships, regardless of winning anything (space permitting). Regional winning alliances get to go to the Championships as well. If all three teams are even number teams, then no additional team from that regional is going to the Championships (except for certain award winners). If FIRST said they would take 3 teams no matter what from every regional (this would exclude even number teams), then if there are any even number teams in the winning alliance, FIRST would go down the list of either qualification points, or second place alliance teams, and select odd number teams to fill whatever spots are leftover. So if 2 even number teams are on the winning alliance, 2 odd number teams would be picked to fill those 2 spots (depending on performance).