The Selection Team also wanted to be considerate but fair to teams from some states and international teams who cannot easily access the regional sites given their distance. We created the eighth bracket called the “International/State Direct” bracket. These teams will be directly invited to Knoxville, where they will compete in regional play beginning the days leading up to Championship Weekend in Knoxville. Direct state teams will compete against other direct states teams and top international teams. The winner of this bracket competes at Championship Weekend against the winning teams from the other regional events. This allows small state and international teams to only travel once.