Divisions posted

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Stu Bloom

So I was wondering ... why 87 teams per division? Does that number seem a bit odd to anyone else?

88 seems like such a nice, even number

After doing a bit of cypherin' I think I may have figured it out ...

To entirely avoid the need for surrogate matches there would need to be either 84 teams per division, or 90 teams per division. I suppose that for any number of reasons 84 may be too few (only 336 total) and 90 too many (a WHOPPING 360 FRC teams total)?

Within that range, 87 teams gives the most options to avoid surrogates. Any even number of "rounds" (8, 10 or 12) would yield that same number of plays for each team, while any odd number of rounds would require some teams to play as surrogates for their 3rd "Q" match. Any other number of teams/divison between 84 and 90 would require either 9 or 12 "rounds" to avoid anyone having to play as a surrogate. (I know 6, 14, and 15 fit in there somewhere, but I am staying within a "reasonable" range of matches - not likely to be less than 8 or more than 12 per team)

Am I making any sense??

Anyone have any other thoughts ??

Does anyone really CARE ??

Stu, I'm sure we all care...

Most likely, there will be 102 qualification matches played in each division. Each team will play 7 matches that count and three teams in each division will play a surrogate match. So for those teams who end up with 8 matches, remember that your third match will not count in the standings (but that doesn't mean the scouts will ignore you!!)