[LeelandS]

To me, the teams that everyone recognizes are the teams who pick a theme... and shove it down our throats until we can't possibly forget it.

Yes, PINK and MOE have that down pat. PINK, of course, has the color pink EVERYWHERE. On their shirts, their robot, their wigs. They shove pink down our throats until we can't help but associate that color with them. In the stands, the pits or the field, you see a mass of pink, you can't help but know that 233 is coming up.

It's the same principal with MOE and Wildstang, with the Neon Green and Tie-Dye. You see lime green, you're looking at either MOE or Thunderchickens. You see that mass of tie-dye, you're looking at Wildstang.

Another way to make your team recognizable is through sheer robot performance and imagery. I know, if I see a black and red robot, with red light coming out of it somewhere, I'm looking at a Robowrangler robot. Royal Blue? Cheesy Poofs. Honeycomb designs? Killer Bees.

The point is, to be recognizable, what you're looking for is a theme you can put into everything you do. The Killer Bees have been brought up. They take that "Bee" theme, and they put it in their cheers. Their robot. Their costumes.
What you need to do, is be able to build an association with your gimmick so strong, you could remove all references to a team name and number from a shirt and robot, and be able to still recognize whose team it is. Memorable logos help to.

If you're looking for examples, I know I could look at the following teams without their numbers or names, and recognize their robot or shirt:
33, 111, 148, 188, 191, 217, 233, 234, 254, 330, 340, 341, 359, 469, 781, 1114, 1503, 1511, 1625...
Well, the list goes on and on. All these teams either have a color, a logo, or a specific style that I will always be able to look at from the top of the bleachers and say "Oh, that's xxxx".

Hope this helps.