UNDERRATED TEAMS
 

This year there are a lot of teams that are underrated. I was just creating a thread to get these teams a little bit of acknowledgment.

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2826
2826
2826
2826
2826
2826
2826
2826
2826
2826
2826
2826

379
1592
2169

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188 is always an underrated team. They have 1114 and 2056 to play against in Canada, and have been getting closer and closer to beating them every year (with the help of 610 or 1503)

610 and 1503 seem to also be some underrated teams.
2481 was a great team in Queen City almost never missing a shot.
1730 and 3138 also great teams in Queen City.

Most of these teams don't get the spotlight on them because there were teams slightly better than them at regionals. or haven't been amazing for many years like the powerhouses, and just aren't heard of as much.

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That was subtle! ;)

228, they had a really rough run in CT with some damaged balls but they were on fire at WPI!

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I think I love you! You are the first team on CD to mention us as a hidden superpower. You did great at QCR, too bad none of us won at Queen City, not sure about you guys but we aren't even going to championships this year and maybe might not get an IRI invite either...

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I think you forgot about 2826.

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357

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2826 and 48 both get a decent amount of recognition, but 48 doesn't get enough recognition for their rocking season this year and 2826 doesn't get enough for how excellent they've been since their founding.

842 also has gotten a fair bit of attention since their National Chairman's, but not nearly enough attention for their performance in the past two years, which his been phenomenal.

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2073 and 3256!

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2826
2481
2506
3928

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558, great OPR this year.

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103, 56, 364, 1323

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829

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I know they won Davis but man 1678 is good!!!!! Their shooter is just so accurate. :yikes:

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a few that come to mind, ill make a bigger post later:

1218
234
3487
829
467
302
245
2415 (soon to change (in a good way))
176
134
116
78

etc.

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Well 610 actually got lots of attention at the Arizona regional this year haha. Took over the whole competition and won. Happy for them they are a nice team from what it seems from talking to them.

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610, 188, 1730

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The pacific northwest as a region is underrated, but a few teams in particular come to mind:

2471 - always has very creative and innovative machines, not to mention a fantastic use of a variety of material selection
1425 - often overlooked, but has really upped their game in the last couple years
2733 is a team to watch over the next few years. They haven't quite broken through yet, but they're definitely figuring out how to build quality machines.

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195 won CT for the second straight year and I don't think they are on anyone's map for championship but they really should be.
2168 who has, in my opinion, the best robot not at championship.
973 not exactly unknown, but boy do they have a beastly machine. With a few tweaks I would not be surprised to see it on Einstein again.
488 has an amazing and consistent robot that may not really look it but is one of the best scorers of 2012. Things just didn't pan out for them in the elimination rounds.
1985 is the personification of rocking the fender and seems to score every ball they put in the air.

As a person from a weekly top 25 show would say, the most underrated team this year is 1477.

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I'm not sure how underrated 1771 is, but it's worth offering them up alongside 2415.

- Sunny G.

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3360
They have had a really tough season making it to finals in both GTR East and The Montreal Regional. Their robot performs extremely well and they are one of the easiest teams to work with:D

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Their 2007 machine was one of my favorites that year. Played a couple great matches against them on Galileo when I was with 116.

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I'll second 3256. Two finalist appearances against 971 at Sacramento and Silicon Valley, and then a semifinal loss to 1717 and 330 at Central Valley.

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368 and 1056 from Hawaii.
If you check out 368's list of awards since their inception in 2000, you'll be mightily impressed.
Easily one of my favorite inspirational teams since I started.

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1458 and 1280 are always very solid teams. They seem to be overlooked a lot. They're always very good fun to work with/against! I will also nominate 701. They're always on the cusp of being a powerhouse and they are a very GP team! They sat with our drive team this year and taught us the physics behind co-op balancing.

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This year, the two most underrated teams I've personally seen are:

3161

and

842.

Both are effective "checkmate" shooters...

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Their interesting wheelbase and 'stinger' helped them win the Seattle Olympic Regional this year.

In 2007 Las Vegas, 1425 was the top seed. They picked 254 first. Their final pick: then-rookie team 1983.

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Maybe I just haven't been in the right circles, but I haven't seen nearly as much recognition as I thought there would be for 1507 or 340.

340 is one of the best pure dumper bots ('pure' meaning no shooting, as in 548 or 1323) I've seen so far, and after a finalist and winning finish at Finger Lakes and Buckeye respectively, almost definitely the most successful. I'm surprised there is not a lot more buzz over them, being one of the most successful teams without a shooter.

1507 is, hands down, one of the strongest shooters. They may not necessarily be on par with 2056/67/1717/etc., but they rarely miss more than one shot per every 3 taken, and usually sink all 3. They've won both of their events this season, both times captaining their alliance as the number 1 seed. They almost always hit both shots in autonomous, and are more than proficient with tipping and balancing the bridge.

Unfortunately, the upstate New York region doesn't seem to get a lot of recognition, but both of these teams will be teams to watch in St.Louis. I can easily see 1507 on Einstein again, and 340 will be a strong contender in any division they're in.

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3256 - Warriorborgs - Build awesome robots each year, and always seem to be finalists. Maybe that'll change in St. Louis?
846 - Funky Monkeys - Always build innovative and powerful robots, but sometimes paired with alliance partners who can't back them up enough
604 - Quixliver - Like Funky Monkeys, always strong but not always given the best qualification schedule. Plus, 604 and 846 are always against 254, where any team looks half as good as they're supposed to be.
701 - Robovikes - And I thought 254 was the team of constant improvement. I saw 701's robot this year, and 254's this year, and honestly thought 701's was cooler.
1280 - Ragin' C-Biscuits - These guys are powerhouses. Their robots are engineering feats, always plagued with being in on of the middle rankings in the top 8.
254 - Cheesy Poofs - I know what you're thinking: 254? Underrated? How's that possible? While everyone knows about the insanely awesome robots 254 makes every year, they are never as much recognized for their behind-the-scenes actions. Opening their lab to other teams is one thing, but the help they give to teams during the competitions is another. They have a whole section (called FIRST Aid, I think) devoted to helping other teams during the competition.


I only use 254 as an example in my post since they are the local "powerhouse team" in the Silicon Valley. Any other powerhouse could be replaced with their number (ie. 971, 1717, 330, etc.)

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My list, in no particular order is:

610
188
1507
2168
2826
829
772
1477
842
1726

610 has been building consistently better and better robots every year, especially since 2008. Their 2009 robot SHOULD have been at world championships. Their 2011 robot went way under the radar at GTR-West, should have been the first pick... after all it was a finalist three times last year.

188 year in and year out builds solid machines. They've been finalists in their division at world championships twice in the last 3 events.

1507 came out flying this year, but have always built very capable machines. They did make their way onto Einstein in 2009 as well.

2168 is arguably one of the best robots that won't compete at world championships this year. #1 seed at both their regionals this year, only to lose to "communication" problems...

2826 goes unnoticed for one huge reason. They compete in Wisconsin, which has generally been 1714's territory in years past. They're certainly making waves now-adays though, but they still sometimes go un-noticed.

829 is a super capable team, who builds solid robots every year. They're also one of the best robots to not compete at world championships this year, which is a darn shame.

772 builds decent machines as well, but this year's machine has lots of potential to do great things. They also seem to have picked up a new sheet and laser-cutting sponsor recently, which should serve them well for years to come.

1477 is underrated in my opinion because they live in 148's shadow. Whenever people think of Texas FIRST, they think of 148. 1477 has won two regionals this year and another one last year, and is certainly as deadly as their fraternal "twin" 2415.

842 and 1726 are obvious ones. Never count out a Forbes. They also build very capable robots.

Just my $0.02 CDN.

-Nick

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I may be a bit biased but I feel that all of the Greater Kansas City area teams deserve some recognition. I feel in recent years we have been building up to having powerhouse teams and a awesome and challenging regional. Even our rookie teams have been outstanding.

Personally I see the growth 1802 (my team) has made and how everything is finally clicking with my students. Every year they realize something that they need to work on and tackle it. It has also helped that we had more than 12 students this year. We had 40 students which is our largest team since 2008 when we made it to Atlanta with the help of 476 and 1806.

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Can't believe I forgot 1507. When you think of the Fingerlakes Region local powerhouses, you think of 1126, and 191. The Warlocks never come to mind. I think that's about to change, though, considering their robot this year.

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1507 is actually usually a pretty strong contender at FLR, stemming from their finalist finish in 2008, I believe. 2009 was, to me, their big 'BREAK OUT' year at Finger Lakes, winning the regional and making it to Einstein later that year. 2010, their robot was a great piece of machinery. Though it didn't win the event, it earned several engineering awards if I recall correctly. 2011 was a strong year you 1507 as well. Though they took a year off from Finger Lakes, they had a strong showing in Pittsburgh alongside 48, The Delphi ELITE, going down in the finalist to the ever-potent combination of 1114 and 1503.

1507's 2012 return to Finger Lakes showed them to be as dominant as ever. 1507 is one of the most famous teams to come out of Finger Lakes, a former highest rookie seed at champs (that I had to do a little research for), and (one of, if not THE) the most recent FLR team to make it to Einstein (if I'm thinking correctly).

This year, 1507 is at the top of the mountain for the Finger Lakes region, but they've been floating around there for the past few years, as the only team to receive the Highest New York Seed Trophy twice in the last few years.

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829.
2481.
...and I don't just say that because my team was on an alliance with them. The entire weekend it was obvious on how great each of those teams are and how it would be great to work with them. They are great on and off the field.

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We are going to Champs, as we won Smoky Mountains Regional. We are hoping to get invited to IRI this year, but arent sure if we will get in.

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I haven't watched many matches outside of the MAR region this year, but I would definitely want to throw 4342 a shout out. It's a great robot, their drivers handle their drive extremely well and they score a lot. I rarely see people talk about their robot on here, so good job guys.

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2474 from Niles MI.
They have 2 great shooters this year. Both are accurate. A catapult for from the key and a normal shooter from the fender. They have been semifinalists twice, and winners once this year. They got unlucky in their first two events. They have the second highest OPR in MI.
Watch them, they are great.

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Agreed! These guys, 340, and 1056 are three of the best 2 point bots.

Also 357 is hot on their game right now. They will put up a strong fight at MAR.

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3528 - Upnext They are only a second year team but with their innovative robots they keep putting out every year, (Ie fender bot and defense bot). They just got their first regional win as the number one seed in Oklahoma and were rookie all-stars last year they are pretty effective they are soon to be a rising star in first.

931- They may be year after year a one trick pony, but they pull it off extremely well even netting them wins. in 2010 with their pusher robot they were really fast in the front zone. In 2012 using the battery as a CG weight shift was genius and played great defense.

1939- Aside from their awesome team name this is a team who every year comes to KC regional to play, building great robots with unique features. never sleep on what they do.

1477- This may be one of my favorite teams in first currently, their awesome robot last year had my jaw drop and this year its dropped even further. 1477 may be in the shadow of the other two texas teams but they are a fighter and they proved especially this year they are no push over. Always like their robots and a nice team overall.

624- After playing with them then winning the Colorado regional with them last year they showed me that they are a great team, this year though "wow" they just kicked the wall down on what they could do as a team winning the bayou regional and contending shot for shot at lone star final one when a teammate was down just had me stuck on how good they are. even with their spirit of their team in the stand and the crazy hair they know how to build great robots. dont sleep on them at all!

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ill add more after work.:yikes:

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2169, KING TeC

They were the number 1 pick at both regionals they attended, winning Duluth, and finalists at Wisconsin. According to our scouting data, they averaged 6.75 balls scored per match on friday at Wisconsin, and shot 80%. They are definitely one of the top shooters this year.

As far as their overall program, they have now won the chairman's award 4 years in a row.

Once you get a chance to work with them you will realize they are more than just a bunch of silly guys wearing capes.

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"Though they took a year off from Finger Lakes, they had a strong showing in Pittsburgh alongside 48, The Delphi E.L.I.T.E."

JonDarr has done us zero favors in continuing to pre-pend "The" to our name when announcing us, despite us indicating specifically it is not part of our official name on the Team Info Sheet we hand in to him! I think it's burned into his brain. :D

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Boy Nick, how very "Looking Forward"-sounding of you. Hmm.... :cool:

I'm going to expand upon my original selection of the Girard RoboCats of 379 by noting that they are currently ranked 48th overall in OPR and have been extremely consistent over their three regionals this year. They were finalists in Pittsburgh, losing to us, and ran into some bad luck in the elims in their other two events, losing to us again in the Queen City quarters. I really wanted them to mix it up in the other half of the bracket.

I honestly believe 379 is IRI-worthy and seriously hope they apply.

I'm also going to give a shout out to our not quite twins, 3193 Falco Tech, who stepped it up BIG time in Queen City after some struggles in Pittsburgh. They are firing on all cylinders now and were great to work with as elimination alliance partners in Queen City. If you meet them in any offseason events, watch out, and look out for them next year!

I really wish both of these teams had qualified for St. Louis. Regardless, both of them should hold their heads high for having their best on-field seasons ever this year!

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I was thinking the same thing about Nick's syntactic elegance;)

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I think the Cheesy Poofs have been very well recognized for their non-robot/off-the-field actions.

http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/first...ry#frc_winners

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We have had the sponsor that did our sheet metal work this year for many years now (since 2005 i believe). However this is the first year we finally FULLY CADed the robot and first time using the sponsor for this reason. It also just so happens that this sponsor is my Dad's work, Centerline (Windsor) ltd. I started designing sheet-metal chassis' during the summer and we built one in the fall to get use to rivet's and sheet-metal parts. So we decided to go all sheet-metal for this years robot. Seems to be the fastest way to make a robot too, as we were done by week 5. TIP: If you have a sheet-metal resource USE IT! In order to keep our robots sheet-metal I will have to train the younger students on how to make sheet-metal parts and use a CAD Program (we use Solidworks), otherwise we may have a year or two where the robot isnt amazing, like our 2009 and 2010 bots.

I have found that in the last few years our robots have been getting better and better, and will someday hopefully become a powerhouse team. (hoping, as long as no one starts to hate us for doing good)

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How has nobody mentioned 69?

They opt out of championships pretty much every time they qualify, but they always bring a solid robot to the field. I still think their 07 robot was top 5 in the whole country. Even though they may not quite have enough regional wins to back up being the most underrated, the quality of their robots speaks pretty well for them.

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What a coincidence...




It's not me...

-Nick

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Thank you for the shout out! We are psyched to be returning to St. Louis this year with a scoring robot and hope to make some noise with the other GKC regional teams.

Sharon
Up Next! 3528 Mentor

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610 for sure. I talked a lot with them last year at CMP and they definitely know their stuff.

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Thanks for the shout-out! :D

It's true, ever since our less-than-stellar year back in 2010, we've made some significant changes as to how things are run and it seems to have worked, eh? Two Regional Finalists in 2011 and now Regional Champion in 2012?!! This team's come a long way, and is hopefully going to emulate that of the 2007 team (that I unfortunately was not a part of).

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3467 had a great break-out performance this year under the leadership of Brendan. I think they'll be a team to watch for in the future.

I'll put 125 up there as well. They get stronger each season but small things seem to stop them at some events. Since 2007 they've had some cool robots. Not to mention an older World Champion title.

1251 in Florida seems to be back in the game this year after a few slump seasons.

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340, 2826, 3138, and 772/188/610. 340 hasn't gone unnoticed, but I'd say they are still undervalued. Wave is just good. Very very very very good, and they seem to keep getting better. I'm a fan. Same goes for 3138. Not the most famous team, but always on my watch list. The three Canadian teams are nipping at the heels of 1114 and 2056, and are certainly capable robots.

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Seconded.
I've had the privilege of seeing their robot up close, and it's just awesome.

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I have watched 2474 with great interest, and they are the most underrated team in all of Michigan right now. Watch for a great showing from them this weekend at MSC.

To add to my list of underrated teams, though:
2474
245
123
4003

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2122 comes to mind. They were a steal in the third round at IRI last year and seem to really be on their game this year too.

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Agreed! I think we're going to see a World Champion coming from the PNW in the near future. :cool:

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Another vote for 2826. In a few short years they've positioned themselves as one of Wisconsin's top dogs, if not the top.

They are gonna be the ones to get WI to Einstein (and almost did it last year)! :)

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I agree. WORLD DOMINATION!!!!!

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Thanks for the shout out...we really had a great time playing with 3138 & 16 at IRI last year:) Just FYI, Team Driven 1730, was the 4th member of the alliance..

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I know they've both already been mentioned but 188 and 2168 are both phenomenal robots that I feel are underrated/not well known.

188 in their first 2 regionals has made it to the finals, one of them being stopped by 1114 & 2056, also in their 3rd regional in the quarterfinals they were stopped by the alliance of 2056 and company, ( who went on to win the regional ) I don't know whether they're going to Championships or not but if they don't then that truly is a shame because they're a consistent contender for the finals.

2168 in both of the regionals they attended was the #1 seeded alliance, they were a consistent key as well as fender shooter, and in no way did they pick their alliance poorly, I'm sure most others would have made the same choices as them but in both competitions the partner they had chosen first died during the match, at NYC 1676 disabled, and at CT 118, whether this was the robot's fault or the fields is unkown, but I'm not saying this team deserved to win either of these regionals, they just didn't deserve to lose in this way, also pretty important to mention is that if I'm not mistaken this team doesn't have a practice bot like most teams, which is a huge advantage to have, I would watch out for these guys cause they definitely have their act together.

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There are a lot of teams that are have a good year and are "underrated" for that year, but several teams come to mind that are consistent performers who are often overshadowed:

1730 Team Driven makes awesome machines every year, but rarely gets recognition outside of their region. Very strong performer this year as well, they don't appear to be registered for St. Louis, which is a shame

3256 Warrior Borgs came out strong their rookie year, winning a regional and several awards as well as seeding 9th in their division at Champs that year. They haven't let up, winning EI in their second year, and were consistently one of the best teams in the Northern California region this year, losing in the the regional champions at all 3 of their events.

525 Swartdogs are one of the regional powerhouses in the Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa area and consistently produce top-notch robots and always are a factor in eliminations at Championships when they go. Their compact robot this year is quite the marvel.

131 C.H.A.O.S. has been really up-and-coming in recent years in New England, pulling two consecutive #1 seeds at GSR, losing in finals last year but clinching gold this year. They may not be as strong as some of the regional powerhouses, but in a field as deep as GSR they've stood out as a consistent performer that I feel is underrated for their level. Their recent successes come in addition to two EI's at that same event (in 2010 and 2011), and three WFFA's, including the 2004 WFA Dave Kelso.

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I'll triple recommend 3256... very impressed with the work they did at SVR and CVR

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2815. They've won Palmetto for 2 years in a row (the first repeat in the history of the Palmetto regional), as well as the Peachtree regional last year. Their bot was instrumental in their alliance's victory, and their shooting mechanism is ingenious.

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Meant to post this in here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...7&postcount=47

my vote goes to 1126

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This name might seem odd here, but I think 177 might not be underrated but they are always under the radar, you never hear about them through the competition season, you just see them on einstein..

I think they are team that doesnt get the credit during the normal season.

Id also support 188 as a team that goes unnoticed in the shadows of 1114 and 2056.

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1388 is often under the radar, but quietly doing well.
1671 does the same thing.
1678 is just now coming up regularly in "pay attention to them" discussion.

I think as a group, the Central Valley teams stay off the radar but do well.

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Whoops I worded my post incorrectly. Thanks for the clarification!

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As the drivetrain designer/C.A.D. technician/machinist for the Lunacy and Breakaway robots I'd like to thank you for the complements, we work hard every year to design machines that perform. And last year I personally worked hard to learn programming and help the programming be as consistent and great as it was. This year one of my good friends, worked hard to design this robot. I'm proud of the work he did and the rest of the CAD team. I'm very happy with the Qualifying performance they had at Queen City. They showed how well the robot could perform. I am sad to say Team Driven did not qualify for St. Louis. I have heard that there will be team members going anyways along with our Woodie Flowers Award winning mentor. I myself plan to attend as my college is only an hour drive from St. Louis, along with other alumni from the other Lee's Summit schools teams.

To add to this list I would have to say 1987 the Broncobots are under-rated, they have a good robot this year and they have a very solid P.R./chairmans team.

I would also have to say Team Titanium 1986 doesn't get as much recognition as they should. They have well built robots every year, they perform very well.

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Basically every team that was second picked but lost in the semi finals of a regional.

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I really am amazed about how nobody has mentioned 180We're a Strong team and are a very consistant shooter. yeah we're #11 in the OPR but really why hasn't anyone but our team mentioned that? Galilleo is our division

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The thing is you're not underrated. People know you're good, even just by looking at the amount of points you've scored and your record.

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Well, now you have the recognition of being World Champions, surely now being underrated is a thing of the past now ;)