Has anyone noticed all the regional spots available? There’s at least one spot open for almost every event. I guess a lot of teams have pulled out of their second or third event, or they saved a lot of spots that didn’t get filled. Some have 20 or 30 spots open, even. See the list here.
A lot of openings occured when they posted the championship information (way back when). I have not noticed a significant increase in open spaces since then.
I’m sure that after the fees due deadline a few teams didn’t get paid up and were dropped.
A lot of teams just thinks they can afford the extra regional, and they try raising fund after they sign up for the regional. Sometimes it work out, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s why teams will pull out of the regional.