Hardest Regional

[Jonathan Norris]

Originally Posted by Cory

The answer the last 3 years would be any regional that 1114 attends.

I would have to agree with you there Cory, 1114 hasn't made GTR any easier over these last couple years. Consistently GTR is one of the hardest regionals to win, especially when we used to get more American teams attending. Just look back to 06 when it was a super-regional, that was a tough regional to compete in, you had the triplets, the three world champs (296, 217, 522), all the very competitive Canadian teams, and good American teams like 4, 45, 65, 229, 703 and more. That was the hardest regional I've ever competed in.

Looking at this year so far in regional registration, Midwest is looking really strong again, Florida is always a good battle, California has strong regionals, GTR will be tough again. Its hard to know, because you never know who is going to surprise this year and come up with a great approach to the new game, but there are certainly some tough regionals out there that will match up the best teams against each other and provide some thrilling matches to watch.

[Akash Rastogi]

A lot of people are suggesting that there's just certain teams that make it hard to win a regional. If that's what makes a regional the hardest to win then New Jersey has to be one. 25 makes it almost impossible for any team in NJ to win unless you think of teams like 103, 375, 1089 1279 etc... But when those teams combine, its almost impossible to win over here.

You learn that you need a solid bot that plays the game efficiently and consistently, something that we still need to learn before we can ever win NJ. But, we will keep coming back for more

[flyingcrayons]

Originally Posted by lilstogi11

A lot of people are suggesting that there's just certain teams that make it hard to win a regional. If that's what makes a regional the hardest to win then New Jersey has to be one. 25 makes it almost impossible for any team in NJ to win unless you think of teams like 103, 375, 1089 1279 etc...

thanks for the shout out... but remember, our two teams, along with 1676 beat 25, 103, and 381 one round.... and yes i totally agree, i think the nj regional is underrated, and there are tons of tough teams... but maybe i'm just biased because nj is my home regional

[Sunbun]

At any given point in the competition season, there will always be some sort of obstacle.

While you can't get rid of all of them, you can, at least, negate some of the effects... with lots of practice and trial and error. With practice, the "hardest regional" shouldn't feel so hard anymore.

And I've also learned that veteran teams shouldn't be feared... teams should learn from them... they've been through it all.

That said, Las Vegas is looking pretty stacked this year...

[lenny8]

Originally Posted by sovierr

I would say that the hardest regionals to win will be the first week ones. I say this because the teams will need to keep their sanity through all the field issues and control problems with the new systems.

yea i have to agree with this one. new control,strategy on the spot, not going to be easy but thats the beauty of first there's always a way

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by flyingcrayons

thanks for the shout out... but remember, our two teams, along with 1676 beat 25, 103, and 381 one round.... and yes i totally agree, i think the nj regional is underrated, and there are tons of tough teams... but maybe i'm just biased because nj is my home regional

Used to be a very tough regional back in the day with insane teams coming from all over. This was when it was still at Rutgers though. Luckily, team 296 is coming back this year =D A lot of the older teams stopped coming once other regionals were introduced.

[BrianT103]

In terms of just the sheer number of high-quality teams, I believe that the Michigan State Championship will be unrivaled. I also agree with others that events that 1114 have attended are "the hardest" as well (that is, unless you are paired with them ). The Washington DC regional looks to be a "hard" regional as well, with team like 330 and 45 making a trip to this regional.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by BrianT103

In terms of just the sheer number of high-quality teams, I believe that the Michigan State Championship will be unrivaled. I also agree with others that events that 1114 have attended are "the hardest" as well (that is, unless you are paired with them ). The Washington DC regional looks to be a "hard" regional as well, with team like 330 and 45 making a trip to this regional.

I think 330 actually dropped DC for Vegas.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Cory

I think 330 actually dropped DC for Vegas.

Or else they're waitlisted on DC--but they are signed up for Vegas. That's going to be a tough event.

[gorrilla]

i would bet it will be one of the mid-west regionals, but Florida is also going to be bringing some tough teams down, as well as some rookies(which are always interesting)and experienced teams

[lenny8]

1018 is going to be a tough team this year, better watch out for them.

[Billfred]

For my money, the most objective measurement of a regional's perceived difficulty is the Blue Banner Quotient, the distribution of blue FRC banners* across the teams registered for it. For a more focused view of recent performance, the Sextuple Achievement Uniform Counting Era limits the view of BBQ to that of the 3v3 era--2005 and later, which is also the longest most students graduating in 2008 could have been on an FRC team.

For example, the 29 teams currently registered for Palmetto have earned a combined 30 banners in their history, and 20 since 2005. Do the division, and that yields a BBQ of 1.03 and a SAUCE of 0.69. At the 54-team Florida Regional, with 41 recent banners and 66 overall, a BBQ of 1.22 and SAUCE of 0.76 indicate that Florida will most likely be a tougher regional than Palmetto. (Historically, this has been the case.)

Obviously, a higher BBQ is indicative of more storied teams in attendance, but the SAUCE measurement will generally be a better measurement of the competitiveness of the teams recently. It's not a perfect measurement--for one, it weighs regional and Championship awards equally--but I think you'll find yourself in the ballpark.

Now, the hard part: computing BBQ and/or SAUCE for the regionals. (My head's had enough just computing Palmetto and Florida.) Anyone have a way of figuring it out quickly?

*For the uninitiated, blue banners are awarded for Regional Champion, Regional Chairman's Award, Division Champion, Championship Chairman's Award, and Championship Winner.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Now, the hard part: computing BBQ and/or SAUCE for the regionals. (My head's had enough just computing Palmetto and Florida.) Anyone have a way of figuring it out quickly?

I don't have a way of figuring quickly, but some rough numbers for the L.A. Regional are: 46 teams, 31 combined banners, 20 since 2005. BBQ of 0.67, SAUCE of 0.43.

Not exactly a strong regional. That doesn't say anything about individual team strength, though-- about 50% of the total banners and all but one of the pre-2005 banners are held by two teams.

Oh, and there are exactly three out-of-state teams attending (which may drop the BBQ and SAUCE a bit). Consider this an invitation to the L.A. Regional, if you want another event. We haven't had more than one out-of-state team at a time since 2005, and would like some more teams.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by EricH

Not exactly a strong regional. That doesn't say anything about individual team strength, though-- about 50% of the total banners and ALL of the pre-2005 banners are held by two teams.

really? I know 330 and 294 have pre2005 banners, are there really no other teams at LA with banners from back then?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

really? I know 330 and 294 have pre2005 banners, are there really no other teams at LA with banners from back then?

Make that 3 teams--980 has a Regional Winner from 2004.

294 and 330 have 9 pre-2005 (294: 4, 330: 5) and 8 2005 and later (294: 1, 330: 8) between them. Total: 17 of the 31 combined total. 980 has 3, 1717 has 2, 1860 has 2, and not many others have more than one. 968 (5 banners) is not signed up at this time. Hopefully they come...