My personal top 5 for Illinois. This isn't entirely based on season achievements or scoring abilities, but has some bearing on the history of the team and the design itself.
1. 2481: Their landfill is among the best in the world. They wipe out the landfill with ease, and their swerve is (as always) gorgeous. They're consistently one of the best teams in the Midwest, and they're getting better and better every year. Although they were taken out early by a bad quarters match, their robot is astounding.
2. 1756: No matter if they're mining the landfill or using their long ramp, 1756 is one of the most versatile bots in the Midwest. They can take on any role and excel at it. They have a strong 20pt auto, and a set of quick can pullers. Whether they are making their consistent 3 capped stacks from the feeder, or wiping out the landfill with the craziest collector I have seen all season, 1756 puts up big points anywhere on the field.
3. 4143: No team has ever deserved more creativity points than 4143. Every year, they manage to make the wackiest design on the field incredibly effective. This year, they did just that, making a robot with four individually-controlled elevators all on the same rail. They were one of the only, if not the only effective landfill robot that did not use a wheeled collector.
4. 2451: Coming off their best season ever, 2451 put together a very strong feeder bot. Their impressive machining and
wild can grabber are creative and very effective. After struggling with a networking problem that forced them to withdraw from Midwest eliminations, 2451 came back for a strong performance at championships.
5. 1625: I've never seen a team get this much better between 2 events. 1625 went from hardly moving to being a viable landfill bot in the 4 weeks between their regionals. Yet another Illinois team to have some really bad luck in quarterfinals, they were taken out early in Carver, but they proved that they won't go down easily.
Some honorable mentions:
111: After a rough 2014 season, 111 is making a comeback in a big way. They have gotten better and better with every match, and I expect them to progress even further at IRI. They are an excellent tote handler who just hasn't had the luck of being paired with a strong capper... yet. They could complete a very powerful collaborative alliance under the right conditions.
4655: A little-known team that deserves a whole lot more recognition than they get. In pre-event driver practice, it was exciting to watch them outclass many top feeder bots from more recognized teams. Their design is refined, simple, and can put up impressive points. Although elimination rounds just never worked out well for them, they are easily one of the best robots in Illinois; I believe 4655 will become a force to contend with in the coming years.