[ToddF]

Number of matches played is a major factor in how you seed. This year, both of the regionals we are attending have ~65 teams registered. At Palmetto, we only played 8 matches. Unless the number of matches played is statistically significant, or you have a stand out robot, seeding is more a matter of chance. We found OPR to be a better predictor of a team's performance than seed. And even better than that was individual robot scoring data obtained from scouting. Both seeding rank and OPR are influenced by your randomly selected alliance partners (in quals). And the fewer matches you play, the stronger that influence.

So "upset" is a subjective term. At Palmetto, we were part of the #1 seed, but the alliance that won, had a much higher combined OPR than our alliance. I would have considered us beating them to be more of an upset than the other way round.