I would start with the rule book about the 2007 game. I know it's dull, but if you know the rules like the back of your hand it's extremely easy to design a robot that already takes every rule into consideration -- including weight, dimensions, etc.
The second thing I recommend you do is go to Moe365's website and look at their rookie resources, particularly noting the schedule. We didn't follow that schedule intentionally our rookie season; our rookie season just happened that way. It can definitely help you realize the time constraints on everything.
The third thing I recommend you do is get someone who is willing to spend a few
extra hours a week on CAD. Sure, you can use 80/20 for everything on a bot but good luck keeping it all under the weight limits -- Inventor & Solidworks have easy-to-follow tutorials and nearly anyone can begin work on simple parts right after the tutorials. Plus, there are libraries of FIRST cad parts (
www.firstcadlibrary.com) so you don't have to spend hours making them -- just putting it all together. This will end up saving you vast amounts of time during your integration phase of your season.
Good Luck!