The top 8 teams will be....(2004)

[Andrew]

Most teams at all competitions will have 50% wins and 50% losses. There will be a small number of teams with no losses or one loss and a small number of teams with no wins or one win.

I suspect that it is going to be a LOT harder to go undefeated this year than in previous years, where wins and losses didn't matter. Those few undefeated teams on day two of a regional will find that the last couple of matches are "elimination style" difficult.

First of all, if you are undefeated, you have to be very mentally tough to win the next match (same as in eliminations). Many of the undefeated teams on day two will be playing "not to lose" instead of playing "to win."

Secondly, teams opposing undefeated teams are likely to experience rather a lot of tactical and engineering support from teams with one loss, whose only way to move up the rankings is for undefeated teams to lose.

Consequently, I predict that the top eight will consist of:
0-2 teams that are undefeated
0-4 teams with one loss/tie
4-8 teams with two losses/ties (decided by ranking points)

0 teams with three or more losses/ties