[MrJohnston]

I have a week off work and am spending it scouting.... a lot of teams. I've seen nearly every team in FIRST at this point - though am only 1/2 done scouting them....

RE: Northwest Teams
There are four or five really, really strong teams in the Pacific Northwest that would rank in the top 25 (though top ten is questionable) - if they can manage not to have mechanical problems. 2471, 1983, 360, 1318 and 948 all have very good robots, however each (except maybe 360?) has had some sort of issue at some point... It's hard to rank them that high in a subjective pole with the "issues' they've had. Consider: 1983 might be the best robot in the Northwest, but, in three competitions, have yet to take the #1 seed.

RE: Those Canadians
Yup... There are a lot of really, really good robots in Canada. Watch the videos for the Greater Toronto East Regional... 1114 and 2056 are really, really good... Really good. They might be the best two robots in FIRST.

RE: Other areas
Yes, there are areas where robots are stronger than others... There are cases where a robot plays in two regionals, in different geographic areas. At both, it peforms just about the same. However, at one it doesn't get chosen for eliminations. At the other, it's one of the top three or four bots.

One weakness of any top 25 list is that it does not account for robots with very different purposes. This is an alliance game and, to win, you need robots to do different things - just as, in football, you won't win too many games with a team full of linebackers. Some robots focus on cycling, others on picking up loose disks, some on climbing and others on distance shots. How do you compare a FCS vs. a cycling bot, for instance? Whose the better football player, the quarterback or middle linebacker?