> And maybe this might serve as a reminder that not all on here are from the > US and that your systems are far from transparent...
"Far from transparent" That's one of the nicest things I've ever heard said about the NCAA! Rest assured, Andre, that while many of us in the U.S. can manage to understand the system when it is laid out before us, many of us also feel that the NCAA is the embodiment of fascist intolerance in the sports world. To be fair, the current qualifying system can mostly be blamed on the NCAA coaches, not on the NCAA. I think somewhere along the line, a lot of people forgot that "pure" competition is not necessarily the same thing as "fair" competition - I'll take pure competition any day. I think I know most of the answers to the questions you asked about qualifying, but because I am not completely sure, I will let someone else give you the specifics. I will say that as far as I know, the pre-NCAA meet has no direct effect on qualifying for the NCAA championships, other than the fact that "at-large" berths in the championships are based partly on head-to-head competition during the season and the Pre-NCAA has an awful lot of the contenders going head to head. - Ed Parrot
