[Ken Streeter]

Originally Posted by SamMullen

This is really the first year that I've actually paid attention to who wins regionals other than what I attended personally, and so I was wondering:

This year it seems like almost always the first or second seeded alliance wins the regional. I think I've seen only a couple of exceptions to that so far. Is that the normal thing, or have other years had more of a variation in which alliances win?

At small regional tournaments where there are only a few teams that stand out above the others, it is very difficult for low-seeded alliances to win.

However, at regional tournaments where there is much more depth in the field, it becomes more likely for lower-seeded alliances to win. The Week One Granite State Regional is one of the tournaments with a deeper field composed of many excellent teams without any dominating powerhouse teams. With a deep field, the second pick can still be a good robot, particularly with a serpentine draft which gives the lower-seeded teams the potential to make a better second pick than the top-seeded teams.

Our team (1519) has won the Granite State Regional three times, and never as the #1-seeded alliance.

In 2006, we were the first pick of the #6 seeded team, 1276, which had been promoted to the captain of the #5 seeded alliance. The alliance, composed of 1276, 1519, and 133 were the #6, #8, and #13 seeds of the tournament. In order to win, we went head-to-head with the #4 seeded alliance, #1 seeded alliance, and #2 seeded alliance.

In 2010, we were the first pick of the #2 seeded team, 1073, and joined by 1058. We went head-to-head with the #1 seeds in the finals.

In 2011, we were the first pick of the #3 seeded team, 175, and joined by 176. We met the #1 seeds in the finals.

Each of the above "upset" wins was enabled by having a strong alliance of *three* capable robots. Having a deep field and excellent scouting (to enable a good second pick) are key aspects of winning from a lower-seeded position. Three excellent robots playing with a good strategy can often upset two exceptional robots who have a weaker third robot.

PS: The above history of our team at GSR makes me wonder how often the #1 seeds have won in New Hampshire...