"I refer back to the original thought of my post: if one doesn't want the championship watered down, then only the few dominant, championship-caliber teams should be invited. The notion is that by virtue of a field so large as to include 42 teams, the championship is *already* watered down with inferior teams. So, if NAQT is going to invite teams it knows have no reasonable chance of contending for the championship, then why do they do so?" Two possible reasons. 1. Fairness in championship eligibility. Yes, the winner of the Greater Fargo Regional may not have the name recognition of other schools, but they can be just as dangerous. Few, if any tournaments (the only exception being football, which has injury considerations), set up a system where teams have no chance in heck of winning it all. While the chance of Liberia winning the World Cup is small, they still have a chance to qualify. This allows for the occasional "stunner", where a quiet team with little circuit experience does very well or wins. 2. Money - More teams equals more money. The NCAA and World Cup have large tournaments in part because the market can sustain it. It's also why men's lacrosse, which makes a fair degree of money, has twelve playoff berths rather than eight or six. Each ICT invite is another few bucks for NAQT (NB - this is not necessarily bad).
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