Who's gonna win 2007 IRI invitational

[Herodotus]

I can't really say for certain now. 1114 is definitely an awesome team, and no doubt they'll likely be in the finals. I also know from personal experience now that 330 is an absolutely awesome alliance partner and team as well, so they will likely be in the finals. But at Atlanta they decided not to form an alliance so who's to say they will do so at IRI. Also we did almost beat both 1114 and 330 when they were on the same alliance. I can't remember who was their third partner or unfortunately who our two alliance partners were in that match but it was one of the last qualifying matches on Curie and we only needed one more tube and our alliance would have beaten both 330 and 1114.

That doesn't diminish the fact that both are awesome teams, two of the best teams this year (if not the two best). But it does go to show that matches tend to be unpredictable.

[Kyle Love]

Beware of the dark horse. They will overcome any alliance.

[Josh Murphy]

Originally Posted by Kyle Love

Beware of the dark horse. They will overcome any alliance.

I agree, anyone can come away with the win.

[Lil' Lavery]

I'm picking with my knowledge of IRI history (since 2004), and guessing that either 190 or 177 will have either a gold or silver around their neck when all is said and done. Not sure how it's gonna happen, and by no measures are either of these teams a lock or even my favorites to win it, but strange things happen at IRI, and they just keep happening...

[Kellen Hill]

From the looks of it there shouldn't really be a dark horse with all of these amazing teams coming. I think that any alliance last year could have won it because they were all well rounded. Considering the team list there most likely wont be a dark horse alliance.

[Cowmankoza]

Originally Posted by hill

From the looks of it there shouldn't really be a black horse with all of these amazing teams coming. I think that any alliance last year could have won it because they were all well rounded. Considering the team list there most likely wont be a dark horse alliance.

there are a handful of great teams going that havnt been mentioned in this thread yet, while i dont know about a dark horse alliance, a dark horse team can turn and alliance from well rounded to near perfect

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Cowmankoza

there are a handful of great teams going that havnt been mentioned in this thread yet, while i dont know about a dark horse alliance, a dark horse team can turn and alliance from well rounded to near perfect

195 and 522 come to mind as great examples of this last season.

Also, team 4 at la (both this season and last).

[Karthik]

This a ridiculously strong field. I think we could see a winner come out any of the spots one through eight. In my two years at IRI, I've noticed that teams coming off of some bad luck at championship always seem to come in to town with some extra motivation. For that reason, my two favourites to win are 71 (never bet against Beatty) and 148. 148 was definitely the best team not to win a regional this year. I expect these Texas gunslingers to come out on fire, putting tubes up like crazy.

Of course you can't overlook the rest of the West Coast invasion, especially 254, 330 (best robot in 2007) & 968.

Don't forget the Northeast, with two world champions, 177 & 190, and perennial powers like 121 & 126.

There's always Michigan. Teams like 27, 67, 68, 469, 494 & 503 among others will definitely be making an impact late into Saturday afternoon.

Then there's the Indiana teams, 45 & 234, trying to defend their house.

Can you believe I've mentioned 15 teams, without getting to Wildstang! Seriously, this is the deepest competition in the history of FIRST.

I'm expecting and hoping to see lots of matches where both alliances eclipse the 80 point barrier. Then again, I know there are a few teams dedicated to shutting down the overrated "offensive ballerinas".

I can't wait.

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by Chris Marra

...(though, I don't know who 'wronged' them?)...

Originally Posted by Chris Marra

EDIT: Might as well make a prediction: Wildstang gets its revenge... ...and wins with 469. 469 will be the picking robot, though Wildstang will seed high, but the Guerrilla-Ramps will give them the seeding advantage.

I don't know, I'm seeing this as a "Round 2" of the West Michigan Regional myself... Who knows, 302, 111, 1504 vs 469, 703, 494. It could happen again......

Oh wait... 302 isn't coming and 1504 is on the waiting list........ darn it.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Originally Posted by 1derboy

It is going to come down to auto hangers. The top eight will look a lot like this

1-1114
2-1902
3-330
4-67
5-254
6-968
7-111
8-233

The picking will give us alliances along the lines of

1114 330 45   1816
1902 233 229  503
67   254 2056 1625
968  111 1038 980
469  148 116  494
118  121 217  126
234  71  910  177
33   27  68   190

Expect 47, 48, 703, 1577 and 1816 to play spoiler to these picks, I could see some big moves. These are the teams that I think will shape up the final rounds, and this is what I think alliances will look like. You could see 968 go with someone else, but WildStang is such a good capper and should be able to hit in auto.

I know, really elaborate prediction, but once we get to this point I would pick number one over number two in the finals.

Move 233 up a couple of spots... their auton is very, very, very effective.

[chaoticprout]

I agree with Budda, 233 is in my top 5 for the year, (1114,330,968,254,233) They will do very well

[Nica F.]

Originally Posted by ay2b

By my count there's only four West Coast teams - 254, 330, 968 & 980 (and 701 as the first alternate).

Ah you're right, only 4 west coast teams, but that is 3 more than the previous years' average.

The west coast teams that are competing have a heck lot of reputation behind them.

[Travis Hoffman]

The increased importance of scoring in autonomous also increases the importance of defending in autonomous. A consistent auto defender could be just as important as an auto scorer, so if you don't cap well in auto, work on programming to block the other team's scoring attempts or shield your own alliance's capper from would-be blockers! Don't let the tube scorers have all the autonomous fun!

Which teams have the ability to consistently block auto modes? We've had some success, but I'm hoping a few offseason modifications will improve our success rate.

By the way, I've been known to drop the term "offensive ballerina" a few times in my day - ask Ken Patton - but by no means do I think these teams are overrated. In fact, many great scorers have "teeth" under the hood this year, and they are all obviously very adept at what they do. Given that, I know we'll be trying our best to continue our defensive efforts, with a few lessons learned in tow.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Karthik

This a ridiculously strong field. I think we could see a winner come out any of the spots one through eight. In my two years at IRI, I've noticed that teams coming off of some bad luck at championship always seem to come in to town with some extra motivation. For that reason, my two favourites to win are 71 (never bet against Beatty) and 148. 148 was definitely the best team not to win a regional this year. I expect these Texas gunslingers to come out on fire, putting tubes up like crazy.

Of course you can't overlook the rest of the West Coast invasion, especially 254, 330 (best robot in 2007) & 968.

Don't forget the Northeast, with two world champions, 177 & 190, and perennial powers like 121 & 126.

There's always Michigan. Teams like 27, 67, 68, 469, 494 & 503 among others will definitely be making an impact late into Saturday afternoon.

Then there's the Indiana teams, 45 & 234, trying to defend their house.

Can you believe I've mentioned 15 teams, without getting to Wildstang! Seriously, this is the deepest competition in the history of FIRST.

I'm expecting and hoping to see lots of matches where both alliances eclipse the 80 point barrier. Then again, I know there are a few teams dedicated to shutting down the overrated "offensive ballerinas".

I can't wait.

And of course Karthik is far to gracious to add one more team to this list - 1114.

Here's hoping I will be able to arrange my schedule to volunteer, so I can view this stupendous event!

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

I'm picking with my knowledge of IRI history (since 2004), and guessing that either 190 or 177 will have either a gold or silver around their neck when all is said and done. Not sure how it's gonna happen, and by no measures are either of these teams a lock or even my favorites to win it, but strange things happen at IRI, and they just keep happening...

I'm going to say that one or both will be finalists, but no higher. For evidence: IRI 2005 (330) and 2006 (217). Now, I realize that that's old data and can change, I'm just saying that it probably won't.

Originally Posted by Herodotus

Also we did almost beat both 1114 and 330 when they were on the same alliance. I can't remember who was their third partner or unfortunately who our two alliance partners were in that match but it was one of the last qualifying matches on Curie and we only needed one more tube and our alliance would have beaten both 330 and 1114.

I remember you had 34 and we had 1732. 34 is #9 on waitlist and 1732 will be there. Can't remember your other partner, though.

I have no specific predictions. It's just too close to call. Infinite combination of alliances, and all very good. All I'll say is that no more than 2 dominant hybrids on one alliance (all the rest will be gone) and the others good offensive robots that can climb ramps. I will also say that none of the champions this year will be on the winning alliance. And, for the record, a bunch of 3+ match elimination rounds.