Of course I know this idea won't happen but anyway... I think the best way to pick the regional teams would be to nominate a captain for each region and let them pick a lineup. Sure deserving teams get left out but selecting teams solely on regional wins or finalist appearances is quite flawed. Not only is there an extremely large amount of luck involved but due to the nature of picking alliances it’s unlikely that all the best teams are represented in the finals. Even if the #1 seed is the best team and picks the second best team at the competition their third partner will at best be the 17th best team. Keep in mind I think any team that makes it to the elimination rounds is deserving, my point is that often the best teams get spread out amongst the alliances. So I say just pick one of the big names, or a group of them if you prefer, from each region and let them fill out the rosters.
So, I would have the regional captain select 10 teams to represent that region and, just for fun, 2 alternates. The format would consist of a best of five matches between two regions with the winner moving on. Each team plays at most one match per round. Lineups are declared at the beginning of each round with all five of the two-team pairings and the match # they will play in.
Although I think you should just give the Midwest the trophy now.
111 & 494 – Worked at nationals.
93 & 67 – 93 catches ALL the balls, 67 caps it and hangs.
33 & 111 – 33 fills the goal, 111 caps and hangs.
45 & 47 – Lots of small balls, 45 caps while 47 hangs.
461 & 469 – With both goals full of balls and doubled why hang?
Also please keep in mind this is a quick list during my break from circuits. I definitely forgot some teams and, with only 10 spots, didn’t get to put in all the great ones I did remember. I would expect anyone given the job of filling out this team for real would have quite the hard time.
As far as getting all those teams in one place, well, that would pretty much be impossible but to save on hotel costs everyone can stay at my house! I do think a location could be found within driving distance for a Midwest vs. NE showdown but those Cali teams are so far away...
btw... what about the Canadians, or the Brazilians for that matter.
-dtk