Phil. wrote:The rules are as follows:
1. The top two teams at each regional championship meet (seven-person teams) automatically qualify for the championship meet. Thirteen additional at-large teams will be selected by the Division I track and field subcommittee on Sunday, November 12 using the criteria listed below.
2. The selection committee will determine at-large berths by examining the following criteria in order of importance, with (a.) being the most important.
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a. Regional finish (Note: A fourth-place team in a region may not be selected for an at-large berth ahead of a third-place team from the same region; however, a fourth-place team from a region may be selected ahead of a third-place team from another region). The situation may arise when the next team under consideration from a region (Team X) does not have enough wins (points) to earn an at-large bid, but the team immediately behind Team X (Team Y) does have enough wins (points) to be the next team selected. In this case, both teams X and Y will receive at-large bids. Any additional teams still under consideration for at-large selection will not be awarded wins (points) for having beaten any team (Team X) advancing to the championship finals by virtue of the wins accumulated by the team behind it in the region. This aspect of the at-large selection process can be employed only one time per region and only the first time it is necessary to do so. This process cannot be applied to the final at-large selection.
b. Number of wins (points) against teams qualified for nationals from the last full weekend in September (Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 22-24) through November 11.
I've left out tie-breakers c) through e) for brevity.
It's clear however that this is not the way it has been done for several years!
Indeed section a) is self-contradictory, if Regional finish is the most important criterion then "The situation may arise when the next team under consideration from a region (Team X) does not have enough wins (points) to earn an at-large bid" can not arise! This makes it clear that 'points' is the most important criterion and finish order gives the well-known 'push'.
I imagine that UTEP protested on these grounds, the rule certainly needs rewriting. The current rule treats 'points' as most important and 'finish' as secondary (hence the push rule).
I really don't see what your point is. The criteria are very clearly spelled out and that is what they did. Regional finish within the region is the most important criteria. The push rule was added a few years ago and is clearly stated. I think anyone who really understands this realizes the rules were followed. The people who don't understand it, think something wrong was done when in fact the rules were followed exactly.