Qualifying for CMP in the future

[Nemo]

I am creating a new thread to discuss ideas for a new qualification system for the FRC Championship, because the thread discussing Bill's post focuses mostly on field / pit layout.

http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2011/05/yes-im-already-counting-down-to-kickoff.html


As Bill says in his blog, eventually there will not be enough spots in the Championship to qualify six teams from every regional and 18 more from Michigan.

From the blog:
"This summer we’re going to be taking a long hard look at the future of Championship (CMP). At the current rate of growth for FRC, we are going to face a space crunch at CMP in a few years. Consider this. At each regional, six teams earn a space at CMP (the winning alliance, the Engineering Inspiration winner, the Chairman’s Award winner and the Rookie All Star team). This year we had 48 regionals. Add eighteen teams from the Michigan State CMP (When the District pilot began, the State CMP replaced three Regional events.) and you get a total of 306 teams. 352 teams competed this year. Not every team who qualifies to come to CMP can make it, so there are always a few empty slots, but as we continue to add new regionals each year, we are eventually going to run out of room. In the short run, there will be fewer and fewer spaces for non-qualifying teams at CMP. In the long run, we’re going to have to figure out a new system for determining which teams come to CMP."

Ideas?