[logank013]

Originally Posted by tindleroot

Indiana's start of districts last year saw some elevated play from teams, but this year seems to be out of the roof. It appears that while Indiana doesn't have any teams quite as big/well-known as some other regions (FIM, Cali, Canada, etc.), we have a lot of teams that can play well. Hopefully someone this year can end Indiana's Einstein drought (was 1024 2008 really the last time Indiana saw Einstein?)

I can't say this any better. Indiana last year was great. I kept track of all 14 Indiana teams at worlds last year and all of them did so well. Despite having no 1114 or 2056 in Indiana, the IN teams have been amazing! I definitely won't say our top teams have the best robots in FIRST this year but our average and below average teams are amazing in comparison to the rest of the world! Our top tier teams are still really good in comparison to the rest of FRC too.

It's so tough to think that such an amazing district only has 9 spots for worlds this year. In reality, Indiana might only be sending their top 5 teams to worlds! That's so hard to believe, but Chairman's award, Engineering Inspiration, and Rookie All Star don't really require your team to have a good robot (despite being awesome awards everyone eligible should go for and be proud if they win them). The second pick or 3rd robot on the winning alliance also won't be a "top tier" team. Now especially for this game, the third robot is super important. That third robot does deserve to go to worlds however because the third robot will contribute so much to winning this year but won't necessarily be top tier.

My hope is that many top tier Indiana teams will be waitlisted and win Chairman's and EI so we can truly send the best teams from IN. Can't wait for DCMPS and good luck to all the teams this week. Can't wait to see you all at our school.