The Best Team(s) to Never Win an Official Event

[EmileH]

Seeing as nobody has done NE, I would throw in my suggestion for Team 166, Chop Shop. While they have two Chairman's Award wins in their history, they have never won an official event but have been steadily improving year after year - this year they were Finalists at Pine Tree and Battlecry, as the captains at both events. Not only this, they were also their division's #1 overall pick at Championship.

[waialua359]

Team 2090 from Hawaii.
Almost always a Regional Finalist. That team is usually a top 3-5 team selection. Its too bad their school doesnt allow them to do more than 1 regional, and champs if they were to qualify. They started FLL in the State of Hawaii and their program and facilities are top notch!
**Barack Obama's alma mater and was in Sports Illustrated several years ago as the #1 High School Overall Sports program in the USA.

[saikiranra]

A more local example to SoCal is 4201. They always put on a good show, but have not won a regional yet.

[Lil' Lavery]

Team 708 has really stepped up their on-the-field game over the past few years, and is the best non-winner in MAR that I can think of (now that 1089 has a division banner).
https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/708/history

1x Regional finals (2009)
2x District event finals (2012, 2016)
1x Sub-division finals (2016)
2x District Chairman's Awards (2016, 2016)
1x MAR Championship Chairman's Award (2015)
FeelsBadMan

3974 and 4954 are some (relatively) younger MAR teams that are still looking for their first wins.

[scottandme]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Team 708 has really stepped up their on-the-field game over the past few years, and is the best non-winner in MAR that I can think of (now that 1089 has a division banner).
https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/708/history

1x Regional finals (2009)
2x District event finals (2012, 2016)
1x Sub-division finals (2016)
2x MAR Championship Chairman's Awards (2015, 2016)


3974 and 4954 are some (relatively) younger MAR teams that are still looking for their first wins.

Beat me to it..

Top teams without an event win by average MAR points:

3974 118.6 (3 time finalist)
484 109.2 (4 time finalist)
708 103.2 (4 time finalist)
1647 101.2 (3 time finalist)
2180 99.6 (2 time finalist)
1712 98.2 (1 time finalist)

[BotDesigner]

The best team in this category in Colorado has to be Team 1440, The Kraken. During 20 events they have been eliminated in the Finals 3 times, Semi-Finals 3 times, and Quarter-Finals 5 times. They have picked their own alliance 4 times and have won 10 awards.

[mastachyra]

I'll try the Midwest Regional. It's not as interesting as some of the previous mentions...

2704 - Roaring Robotics from Batavia, Illinois (Home of Fermi Lab). They have accomplished alot, including Engineering Inspiration and four Safety Awards in seven years. They're also just a pleasure to compete with in general.

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by tickspe15

461 still hasn't won an event.
They've been an event finalist 6 times including one division finals appearance. They also have won 5 engineering inspiration awards and two chairmans in their 17 seasons. Hopefully their finals curse ends soon, preferably with 1747

For a number of years (2006-2009) they would always make Finals only to lose out on the banner. Based on the stories I've heard over the years 2004 should have been an Einstein appearance in that their failure to advance was due to bad luck, not bad performance per se.

Originally Posted by carpedav000

I think it's shocking how 1741 hasn't won any regionals/districs... They have been regional finalists three times that I know of (BMR 2006, BMR 2013, Chesapeake 2014), they scarcely miss eliminations (if ever), and they have made division elims. three times (SF 2012, SF 2013, QF 2015).

I'd say 1741 is also up there, at least in the Midwest (and for sure in Indiana). IMHO thier best shot was 2013, but that was also a good year for two other teams, 868 and 234, which kept them from the win at both of their regional appearances. That's what's nice about districts; it gives more opportunities for teams to win events (less of a "shadow" effect).

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

+1 on this.

I'll add that Steve Florence is among the greatest of FIRST's unsung heroes. That he does not (yet) have a WFFA is even more incredible than the team's hard luck breaking through for a Winner's blue banner.

This is very true. Me saying this is a bit biased as I know Flo (and work with him at a lot of Indiana events) though.