1st Seeds Win

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Ken Streeter

At small regional tournaments where there are only a few teams that stand out above the others, it is very difficult for low-seeded alliances to win.

However, at regional tournaments where there is much more depth in the field, it becomes more likely for lower-seeded alliances to win. The Week One Granite State Regional is one of the tournaments with a deeper field composed of many excellent teams without any dominating powerhouse teams. With a deep field, the second pick can still be a good robot, particularly with a serpentine draft which gives the lower-seeded teams the potential to make a better second pick than the top-seeded teams.

Our team (1519) has won the Granite State Regional three times, and never as the #1-seeded alliance.

In 2006, we were the first pick of the #6 seeded team, 1276, which had been promoted to the captain of the #5 seeded alliance. The alliance, composed of 1276, 1519, and 133 were the #6, #8, and #13 seeds of the tournament. In order to win, we went head-to-head with the #4 seeded alliance, #1 seeded alliance, and #2 seeded alliance.

In 2010, we were the first pick of the #2 seeded team, 1073, and joined by 1058. We went head-to-head with the #1 seeds in the finals.

In 2011, we were the first pick of the #3 seeded team, 175, and joined by 176. We met the #1 seeds in the finals.

Each of the above "upset" wins was enabled by having a strong alliance of *three* capable robots. Having a deep field and excellent scouting (to enable a good second pick) are key aspects of winning from a lower-seeded position. Three excellent robots playing with a good strategy can often upset two exceptional robots who have a weaker third robot.

PS: The above history of our team at GSR makes me wonder how often the #1 seeds have won in New Hampshire...

Very good points here! Depth and alliance partners are key to the outcome of a regional and alliance and whether or not the number 1 seed makes it all the way through!

Come to think of it, the only time the number 1 seed didn't win GSR was 2006, 2009 (team 238 was number 1 seed, picked 319 and 562, and were semifinalists), 2010, and 2011. All other years that I can remember (03, 04, 05, 07, and 08) were won by the number 1 seed alliance. 5/9 chance the number 1 seed wins is why I love attending GSR!

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by SamMullen

This is really the first year that I've actually paid attention to who wins regionals other than what I attended personally, and so I was wondering:

This year it seems like almost always the first or second seeded alliance wins the regional. I think I've seen only a couple of exceptions to that so far. Is that the normal thing, or have other years had more of a variation in which alliances win?

No, it's not always like this.

This year, especially in many of the weaker regionals, you've seen only a bare handful of robots that can deploy minibots consistently. With the minibot race consisting of more than half the score of a normal match, putting two teams together who can both deploy minibots is an advantage that is nearly impossible to overcome.

As the season progresses the games will begin to rely more on hanging because more robots will have minibots. I would expect Michigan State Championship to be that way, however I would expect the National Championship to be slightly less so since so many teams attend because they can pay the fee without having to qualify based on robot quality (not that there's anything wrong with that system - I'm just saying).

[Shmee]

As people have stated, statistically, it does make sense for the #1 seed to win the regional most of the time.

2009 was our craziest year. At Peachtree, we were ranked like 43 out of 48 teams, were picked by the #8 seed 2655 (I think they were originally ranked #13, but my memory is foggy), and went on to win the regional along with 832. That was ridiculous.

A few weeks later (also 09), we were picked by the #3 seed at Palmetto and won with them. The #3 seed (1771) was actually the #1 seed we had beaten earlier at Peachtree, while the #1 seed at Palmetto was a rookie team with box on wheels that could only deliver the super moon-rock thing (supercell? I can't remember the official name) and was rejected five or six times during first-round alliance selections.

On the flip side, the two regionals we've attended so far this year (Alamo and Peachtree), the #1 seeded alliance has won both.

[MagiChau]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

I would expect Michigan State Championship to be that way, however I would expect the National Championship to be slightly less so since so many teams attend because they can pay the fee without having to qualify based on robot quality (not that there's anything wrong with that system - I'm just saying).

Divisions are pretty big. Would be pretty hard making a division without more than 2-4 power houses.

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by MagiChau

Divisions are pretty big. Would be pretty hard making a division without more than 2-4 power houses.

Yep, you're right on that count. Plus, with the 3 weeks between our state champ and the worlds, I'm sure a whole lot of teams will be working to get minibots going.

I hope I'm wrong. I'd love to see a whole series of upsets at Nationals.

[ttldomination]

I think this is partially due to the fact that we've seen this game not too long ago.

Teams that had people around in 2007 REALLY knew what to expect. They designed their robots to be faster, stronger, more agile, and smarter than how they were in '07. Which is why I think we see this large gap between the teams that really can and the ones that are able to.

- Sunny