just as a thought, and seeing that there hasn't been an early BOM list. maybe someone could ask around at home centers around FIRST's HQ and see if they've gotten a large order or specific things from first. if just a way to see what might be included on the field
I would guess FIRST wouldn't be switching away from alliances but to get the larger number of teams using more per match would require more teams per field.
But I guess after 15 pages people start to repeat things....