Welcome back to the FIM Event Previews, there are 5 Michigan Districts this week and I’ll be doing a preview for all the FIM events, every week this season. First one up is one of the most competitive events every year, and it just so happens to be week 1.
Milford District
Last Year’s Winners (3538-67-9204)
Favorites:
If you read last year’s Milford Preview, or rather the line just above this paragraph and had a quick glance at the team list, the favorites for this event become glaringly obvious. Team 3538-Robojackets and team 67-The HOT Team. First is 3538, if you remember from my Muskegon preview last season I mentioned how the robojackets hadn’t lost a Michigan district event since 2017. That was of course till the events of Troy 2, which ended in a Finals lost to one of the most insane tragedies in autonomous I have ever seen live. This was of course out of their control, and now with the new A-Stop button for the exact scenario, I have no doubt that 3538 can restart that streak starting with a repeat win at Milford. The other favorite to talk about is of course HOT, 3538’s partner in winning Milford last season, and the home team for Milford. 67 is of course one of the best teams in all of Michigan, winning both of their districts last year. A win this week would make them the winners at Milford in 4 of the last 5 seasons, with the one outlier still finishing as the rank 1 team. I expect the teal of Robojackets and the red of 67 to combine into blue this weekend as they hope to start off the season business as usual, as they both strive for the top of my Top 25 at the end of the week.
Challengers:
It’s real easy to see how competitive Milford is when the favorites weren’t even the team to win 3 banners and finish top 3 in their division at both MSC and Worlds. I am of course referring to 2022 World Champion 3175-Knight Vision. One of the few robots I actually know how it performs before a week 1 event, due to their participation in both the open alliance and competing at Kettering Week 0, just this past weekend. I attended Week 0 at Kettering University and got to see first hand how well their new robot performs at Crescendo. They were quick, accurate and had one of, if not the most polished auto of the afternoon session. Knight Vision didn’t attend Milford last year, but are no strangers to week 1 winning Escanaba last season. We will have to see how Milford treats them, as they hope to stop the favorites from repeating. Now the other challenger for Milford is 4362-CSPA Gems. They were captains of the 2 seed at last year’s Milford district but sadly couldn’t settle for a finals appearance as they fell to a well rounded 4 seed one match away. Gems of course had of the biggest highlights of last season being the first half of a 1-2 punch beating what most believed to be the eventual world championship winning alliance of 2056, 254 and 27 in the Archimedes division at Worlds. So this is proof enough that they can beat the overwhelming odds of teams who are better on paper, but can they do it again to upset our likely repeating favorites?
Contenders:
1701 - Robocubs
503 - Frog Force
Dark Horse:
2832 - The Livonia Warriors
7220 - Steel Falcons
Outside Looking In:
7056 - The F.A.S.T. Team
3322 - Eagle Evolution
5561 - Raider Robotics
548 - Robostangs
Cinderella Stories:
4130 - The Blue Devils
5167 - Vi-Bots
The first preview of many, not just week 1, but an entire season’s worth. I always look forward to other lists and opinions in the comments below. It’s always hard to judge week 1 given that we haven’t seen most of the robots this year, but as the season starts, the meta develops and the top robots start to stake their claim at the front of the pack, it all makes for another great FRC season in 2024.
Next is Kettering 1 Event Preview, releasing soon.
as alliance partners and a final match of the day opposing 3538. Seem to be on the path to the top seed. Best or near best auto with frogs. Near best speaker cycler with gems. Who do you pick? Havent been watching enough around work but if there is a best auto mate (maybe 3538? They are showing a very complimentary source side auto) That seems like the slam dunk.