2005 Regional Events from FIRST

[Kevin Kolodziej]

So the Midwest Regional has indeed moved to UIC...I'm assuming it will be in the Pavillion. If that is true, why only 36 teams?? The Pavillion (correct me if I'm wrong) is a basketball arena, much like the Cleveland venue and several others. Those venues are able to hold 50+ teams easily.

This has some pros and cons:

PROS: Obviously less teams means more matches per team and a greater chance of getting into the elimination tournament. There is less scouting to be done, more space in the pits (probably), and less general chaos.

CONS: There are a lot of teams in the Chicago area. Virtually every team from Wisconsin and Illinois go there, with a good chunk of the Indiana teams and some Michigan teams, and then some others from here and there. 36 spots will fill up very quickly leaving rookies with no choice but to go further (unless there are spaces reserved for rookies, which I remember being done in the past, but I don't know how many on average) away from home. Granted some teams will opt for Lafayette instead of Chicago, but since they are not on the same weekend, there will probably be quite a few teams that attend both events.

Maybe I just worry too much...but I think registration is going to be very interesting this year. The largest regionals are 54, 54, and 50 (not incluiding Canada since its a super-regional). Most are in the 40s with some in the 30s and even a few in the 20s. Anyting under 32 is in big trouble if the game this year goes to 3v3 (if a 4th machine is a spare)..but we'll see about that.

The Championship is too big at 340, IMHO. Assuming the same set up from the past years, that means 85 teams per division. I know that FIRST is trying to get as many teams to the Championship as possible, but for several years now, while I've enjoyed the spectacle of the Championship, I've felt that the more intimate feeling of the regionals was a better experience.

I did have fun in Atlanta last year, but I didn't have to worry about my team so I had all the time in the world to do whatever.

Time will tell and generally things look like they are off to a great start.

Kev