[Bob Steele]

I am not sure what you mean by returning to the old system of regionals in Michigan.
If you had 18 powerhouse teams wouldn't they be the ones that would qualify under both systems?
I think the difference may be in that the Michigan system this year excluded the other powerhouse teams from the Midwest and elsewhere from having a shot at those regional qualifications...so 71, 111, 1114, 2056 etc didn't take up any of the 18 slots...

I do think that many regoinal area have these concentrations...
I wouldn't leave out the Northeast area...
121, 190, 25, 40, 11.....many more

Or even the Indiana/Illinois area..
111, 45, 234, 71, 1024..many more...

Florida has its share.... Texas....
more areas than that...

Powerhouse teams really are all over...

As someone has already pointed out... ANY team can sign up to go to Atlanta during the open sign up.
Teams that haven't gone for awhile are given priority...

I do think the more important thing is that more teams get to play more and that is a very good thing.
Getting to play at 2 regionals is a big thing... that is your biggest advantage...
when I was in Indiana ... we would have years when we could only attend 1 regional...
I am sure that is the same for many Michigan teams...so this is really good for those teams.
They then have a chance of winning their way into the Michigan championship... and for a relatively modest entry fee they can then compete again... This is the best part of the new system...

I have always said.... paying $10,000 for a team and then getting 7-8 matches to play in one regional is tough to swallow.
Better to play more... no matter how we can achieve that...