[Chris is me]

First I will say that you clearly put a lot of effort and critical thought into this, and that is cool. That being said, I think there are some inaccuracies in the post and your information isn't great. The heavy reliance on OPR as a metric for quality is concerning as well, especially considering how terrible OPR will be this year.

177 ... don’t expect the team that competed on Einstein from 2006 through 2011 to struggle to find their bearings.

Not to knock 177, I love the team, I'm a big fan, but it's odd that you say this when 177 has a long history of peaking at their second event. At WPI in 2013, while they were definitely one of the best teams there, they dealt with a non-working climber, a hopper that would jam if a disc entered upside down, and a high center of gravity hampering maneuverability. They improved dramatically at Connecticut. In 2012, they really hit their groove when they upgraded their shooter. In 2010 they had durability problems across the entire regional and even at Championships. When you add that 177 missed their Week Zero for the first time in what seems like forever, I think it would be more reasonable to say they are a strong contender for #1 seed / regional win *if* they find their bearings.

1519 has consistently performed well on the regional level, but they typically start out slow in their first event…

1519's first event in 2013: Semi-Finalists
1519's first event in 2012: Finalists (only lost because some stupid team with bison horns blew a sidecar...)
1519's first event in 2011: Winners
1519's first event in 2010: Winners

If anything, 1519 is one of the most consistently good-at-first-event teams in the entire district. Did you get 177 and 1519 backwards?

172 merits recognition, having been an elimination-caliber team for many years.

172 did not make the eliminations in 2012, made the quarters as a low seed captain in 2011 and 2010, and missed the eliminations in 2009 and 2008. Until 2013 they had not advanced past the quarterfinals at an official event since 2007. I'm not saying 172 is going to be bad this year, but "elimination caliber team for many years" is a shaky statement.

3780 had a breakout year in 2013. They ranked 9th in Boston, but ended up captaining the 5th seeded alliance. They were clearly prepared to captain though, as they assembled a powerhouse alliance that upset the #4 –seeded alliance, and went toe-to-toe against the champion alliance.

A lot of the credit you've given 3780 goes to 229. Once 3780 told 229 they were picking them, the team effectively gave 229 control of the alliance and let them do anything it took to win the event. Their second pick was from 229's whiteboard, 229 mentors rebuilt parts of their robot throughout the eliminations, and strategy was also dictated by 229. 3780 did a great job on defense and helped the alliance out significantly, though. They benefited from an easy qual schedule and made the most of it.

As for the actual predictions, I think having four "locks" kind of dilutes the meaning of the term for such a small event. I love 3609 (duct tape!) but having them as a tip for essentially using a drive base well is a bit of a stretch.

Overall, you've touched on the major players of the event and provided a solid outline for teams competing. You've just got to stay away from grand, sweeping statements in the style of Looking Forward until you've established the reputation and knowledge base - trust me, I know from experience. (Ugh, looking at posts by me that far back makes me cringe so hard...)