The current U17 age group is not entirely unique, it kind of follows the current U18 age group. DSC 90 and CESA 90 have swapped it for years, both normally placing very high in RIII. DSC has won the RIII and CESA has won the RIII in the past. I believe last year was the first year in several where only 1 of those teams went on to Regionals.
I agree, that this is unusual, and a pretty substantial drop from 2 to 3, based on RIII results exists.
