Chairman's Predictions

[Basel A]

I only know Michigan teams really well, but from what I can tell there isn't any single obvious choice like there has been in the past. It's a competition between many qualified teams. Of the Michigan teams, if one of them wins, there isn't much doubt in my mind that it'd be Team RUSH 27, and that isn't intended as a slight to the other four eligible teams.

RUSH has a long history of great outreach (which I have personally experienced, way back in 2009). They have the right attitude as a team, walking the walk without talking too much talk. They build strong and inspiring robots, particularly this year (before you tell me this isn't important, look at the past several winners). Finally, they've really stepped up this year with their advocacy conference, which is the type of broad national action that FIRST seems to like.

All that said, there seems to be a large number of true contenders, and I don't think there's any favourite or that any region is "due" anything. Will be exciting to see which team is enshrined this year.