Predictions Week 1: We Have Lift-Off

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Fantastic info, as always!

Here's looking forward to week 1.

[Chris]

Hilarious and informative as always

Great job to LF

[Joe J.]

Great to see Looking Forward back, great predictions as always.

I still think Looking Forward deserves their own forum like Car Nack.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

Have to say I'm surprised to see 1732 mentioned after we have only made it to the finals once in three years. But anytime you get mentioned in between teams as strong as 1625 and 2171 is a good day, I guess. Maybe we aren't flying under the radar as much I thought (and hoped).

IIRC, that finals was when you were first seed in Curie '07... I know I see 1732 and think of that round and that robot.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by nahstobor

One of my favorite things to do before a competition is to read Looking Forward's prediction. Hopefully my team can impress enough at NJ to get on LF's big board for VCU in week 4.

I'm sure you'll be mentioned at VCU as you folks impress every year and for CA award also. We saw first hand last season.

[Ice Berg]

Originally Posted by Looking Forward

The Beatty Beast is a swerve-driving, power dumping, polycarbonate hoppered scoring machine, and will be able to blow away most in the competition.

Where did you get this info on team 71? I haven't seen any posts of their bot on CD yet.

[big1boom]

Well, hopefully 2022 can impress LF enough to get on the list for Milwaukee.

See everyone at Midwest in 1.5 days.

[Libby K]

Great post. It's nice to be noticed. I guess we'll see how these play out in a few days....I can't wait!

[Josh Goodman]

Sweet! Best time of the year. Reading LF predictions.....and watching them come true. Truly astonishing and a lot of work. Thanks again!

[Ian Curtis]

I really enjoy looking forward. That said, I think a couple of BAE's perennial top tier have been left out. Of course, I haven't actually seen any of these robots, this is just going off of past experience...

The Riot Crew 58, is always in contention. They've played in the elimination tournament every year since 2005, and they always seem to be in the top 4 seeded alliances.

Mechanical Mayhem 1519, seems to flip flop between on and off years. They rose to fame in 2006 with a sophomore shooter that couldn't be beat. They didn't do so hot in 2007, but they came back big in 2008. While their dual configuration robot made headlines for it's questionable legality (IMHO, they should've let them play) the hurdling robot they ended up fielding was pretty darn good. They've got the full coaching/strategy package to back it up too. I haven't heard tell of their robot yet.

The Power Knights 501 are pretty consistent too. They have on years and off years, but winning 2 out of the 7 BAE Granite State Regionals is nothing to be scoffed at.

The PVC Pirates 1058 are also very consistent. I don't believe they have any regional championships under their belt, but they consistently make the elimination tournament with some of the big name teams. Perhaps a win is in the cards for them this year.

[EDIT] Fun Fact about 71: There has been only a single game with a mobile goal that they did not take home a National/World Championship...[/EDIT]

[Trying to Help]

Thanks for the preview Looking Forward!

Our team argued that we should have had rookie status but because we had 5+ experienced members, it didn't happen. On the other hand, we're a 4-H team unsupported by a school district or one major corporation. It feels like we're a rookie team.

I'd like to think that our robot will do well. I know that everyone's pretty excited about getting to BAE and just being part of the experience.

Trying to Help

[Renee Becker-Blau]

These are always amazing predictions, and they really help start off the FIRST season. I can't wait to see how midwest turns out!

[GaryVoshol]

Another great analysis. I'll be "looking forward" to these all season.

Originally Posted by Looking Forward

When you combine this many elite teams in an event where more than half the field has a number greater than 2000, there are going to be lots of blow-outs. Those young local teams are going to have to step up, especially in the elimination rounds. The third alliance partner is going to play a critical role here, both in terms of defense and being able to avoid becoming an easy target for some of the dominating machines. The championship may well be decided by a team nobody has ever heard of instead of the giants of FIRST.

I think this will apply to a number of events this year, probably most of them. That 3rd partner is going to be make-or-break for advancing in the eliminations. Scouting will be critical - who can best identify the partnership matchup that will facilitate advancement through the finals brackets?

[sgreco]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Another great analysis. I'll be "looking forward" to these all season.I think this will apply to a number of events this year, probably most of them. That 3rd partner is going to be make-or-break for advancing in the eliminations. Scouting will be critical - who can best identify the partnership matchup that will facilitate advancement through the finals brackets?

You're absolutely dead on. Third picks are going to be crucial this year. It looks like power dumpers are going to be good this year, but if their partners can't pin, they might have a harder time scoring.

Scouting is going to be tougher this year than it was last year.

I think strategy is going to be really important too, a team with dominant scorers and bad strategy could probably get beat by a very strategic team.

I loved lasts years game, but real strategy and crucial third picks are back again.

[JesseK]

Oh snap! 3 props in DC!

Looks like we better replace our cloth hopper with one that lets the air through and it's a good thing I found purple nylon rope to do it with too.