[GaryVoshol]

Yes, sports teams that finish last in the division get the first pick in the draft - for next season. Teams that finish first in the division get things like home field advantage to help them in the playoffs. Also, you will usually see the top team against the "wildcard" team, similar to 1 vs 8. Heck, consider the NCAA tournament pairings.

I think the serpentine draft for alliances was a pretty good compromise to level out the competition. Whether the competition of the #1 alliance should or shouldn't be leveled is another question.

I wonder if anyone has done any analysis of upsets - 8 beats 1, 6 beats 3, etc - before and after the serpentine draft rule.

One thing to consider, is that sometimes the #1 seed is not the best robot at the competition. They may have been lucky in their alliance parings, gaining wins from their partners. Or maybe had luck with their competition - they won, but the opposing alliances also ran up high point totals to contribute to the ranking formula.