Having the entire PDL in just four groups is getting a bit unweildly. Who you are scheduled against is playing a bigger part of who gets in. It could only get worse in later years if the PDL keeps adding teams. So maybe the PDL can reorganize their qualifying into smaller groups. For example, this year 6 teams get in, and there are 47 teams up for the slots. So organize the PDL into 12 groups (most groups would have 4 teams), and play a (single) round-robin in your group. The 12 group winners would have a single extra qualifying game (that doesn't count in PDL standings) to get the 6 qualifiers. It would help if USSF gets its Open Cup format nailed down earlier in the year. For example, this year, West (8 teams) would have 2 groups, South (11 teams) would have 3 groups, Central (14 teams) would have 4 groups, and East (14 teams) would have 3 groups. Or else you scrap the conference alignment for qualifying, and just have 12 groups (11 4-team, one 3-team). The East would be the only region to have 5-team groups, but since they are more geographically compact than the Central, they can get in an extra qualifying game easier, so they get the larger-team groups.