toughest regional in 2011?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Basel A

Only being absolutely technical is MSC a regional. It just has a much more difficult registration process. Divisions don't count because they're officially part of the CMP.

All right, I'll take the entire CMP. 340+ teams, 4 fields, option for open registration (and then qualifying anyway), definitely a tough regional.

Actually, on second thought, I'll take IRI... Only 80 picked teams compete there, what's not to like? Oh, wait, not an official event

I'd say that any "compete-to-qualify-to-enter" event should be excluded from consideration for toughest regional. If you're there, it's because you're good anyway. Those events get their own category: Toughest of the Tough Events. (Eligible: MSC, CMP, IRI, other qualification/selection-based entry events I'm not aware of.) Of those, it's a tossup between MSC and IRI, but I'll take IRI (more teams, larger area that they hail from, and the insane amount of elimination ties last year). MSC for official event, with Einstein Field at CMP being tougher but not quite large enough for its own event.