Why is Engineering Inspiration viewed as second place to the Chairman's Award?

[Broboraider]

Originally Posted by waialua359

In my opinion, this isnt necessarily true.

In my opinion, a lot of teams trying for the RCA or CCA have a better chance of winning EI, because as they try for the Chairman's Award, an interview takes place, giving that team an additional formal opportunity to showcase their program. This provides an advantage that a non-participating RCA team does not have.
EI-RCA/CCA goes hand in hand, even if indirectly.

This is what I am trying to convey. That non RCA and even REI winners are at disadvantage to win that award. For me it seems a little backwards that a team who might have only won a RCA can win EI at Champs. It's like saying a veteran team should be able to be chosen as RAS because they were a rookie once too