CONCACAF announced major changes to the 2012-13 CCL format today. No longer will there be any play-in games. All 24 teams advance directly to group play. Group play itself is also significantly changed. The 2011-12 group play saw four groups with four teams each battle it out with the top two from each group advancing. 2012-13 will be completely different. The 24 teams will be divided into eight groups containing three teams each. Only the top team in each group will continue on to the knock-out rounds in the Spring of 2013.

The selection of the three teams for each group will be drawn using the following seeding:

#1 Seeds: Mexico 1, Mexico 2, USA 1, USA 2, Costa Rica 1, Guatemala 1, Honduras 1, Panama 1

#2 Seeds: Mexico 3, Mexico 4, USA 3, USA 4, Canada 1, Costa Rica 2, Honduras 2, El Salvador 1

#3 Seeds: Belize 1 (pending stadium approval), El Salvador 2, Nicaragua 1, Guatemala 2, Panama 2, Caribbean 1, Caribbean 2, Caribbean 3

In selecting each group, the following rules apply*:

• No two teams from the same country may be placed together in a group
• Each group must contain 1 team from either the US or Mexico
  
  * These rules would not apply to a wildcard team if one were needed to replace a qualifying team if that team is unable to participate for some reason (no suitable stadium, lack of funds, etc)

These changes are designed to significantly reduce schedule congestion - and they certainly DO accomplish that goal. In 2011-12 each team had to play a minimum of six games (eight if they, like the Sounders, did not go straight to group play) before becoming eligible to advance to the knock-out rounds. This year that will be reduced to just four, with only two on the road/out of the country. The takeaway will be a much easier path for US-based MLS teams to the knock-out stages. Barring the introduction of a wildcard team, a team such as the Sounders will avoid facing any Mexican sides in group play, and will have a very solid chance at advancing.

The downside of this new format is that there will likely be a great deal more disparity of quality between groups. The luck of the draw becomes a much bigger deal. A really good draw, for example, might be Seattle Sounders FC, Metapan, Joe Public. A bad draw might land a group such as Seattle Sounders FC, Alajuelense, Tauro .. or Seattle Sounders FC, Toronto FC/Montreal/Vancouver, Municipal with one of the Canadian MLS teams finally putting together a better run (I keep waiting for it ... they have talent ... sooner or later it is bound to happen).

There are many berths that will be decided this spring/summer, including the Canadian winner and the various Clausura champions. It is unclear to me how the 1 vs 2 seeds will be decided for countries with Apertura/Clausura systems, as those are basically two separate seasons. I'm guessing overall points for the two combined? Here are the seeds as they currently exist.

#1 Seeds:

Tigres UANL

'12 Mexican Clausura Champion

LA Galaxy

Seattle Sounders FC

Alajuelense/'12 Costa Rican Clausura Champion?

Municipal/'12 Guatemalan Clausura Champion?

Olimpia/'12 Honduras Clausura Champion?

Chorillo FC/'12 Panamian Clausura Champion?

#2 Seeds:

Santos Laguna

'12 Mexican Clausura Runner-Up

Real Salt Lake

Houston Dynamo

'12 Nutrilite Candadian Champion

Alajuelense/'12 Costa Rican Clausura Champion?

Olimpia/'12 Honduras Clausura Champion?

Metapan/'12 El Salvadorian Clausura Champion?

#3 Seeds:

Belize Champion (pending approval of suitable stadium)

Metapan/'12 El Salvadorian Clausura Champion?

Municipal/'12 Guatemalan Clausura Champion?

Nicaraguan Champion

Chorillo FC/'12 Panamian Clausura Champion?

2012 CFU Club Championship Winner

2012 CFU Club Championship Runner-Up

2012 CFU Club Championship 3rd Place

What do you think of this new format? Who would you like to see the Sounders draw?