Top Contenders:
71
Team Hammond roared to a #1 rank at St. Joseph by leading the way with 1580 gear/rotor points (co-lead with 2054). Unfortunately, being the top seed wasn’t enough of an advantage to get past a solid 8th seed alliance of 1747, 4485, and 74. Team Hammond will take another swipe at the competition this weekend.
1018
The Pike RoboDevils were able to take home their first blue banner in team history at the Tippecanoe district with their quick mecanum (or vectored intake wheel) drive and gear delivery. Can they turn their performance from Tippecanoe into a streak?
1501
While this event won’t count towards their standings in the state, THRUST will definitely be gunning for gold again. So far this year, they teamed up with 4272 for a silver at Tippecanoe, but had an unfortunately quick exit in quarterfinals at St. Joseph. Either way, 1501 will be in contention for this weekend’s blue banner.
4272
Maverick Boiler Robotics led the way at Tippecanoe and set a high bar for the competition, taking part in both of the 4-rotor matches and achieving 1540 gear/rotor points in qualification. As the #1 seed, they helped lead their alliance to a Finalist run. Will they be able to capture Gold this weekend?
Rising Teams:
135
The event hosts for the St. Joseph district event silently posted top-10 scores. However, they were ranked lower than what their scores would suggest; finishing ranked 22 out of the 34 teams in attendance. Will they fly under the radar again or will the Black Knights rise to a rank that’s more in-line with their statistics?
234
With one blue banner in tow from Tippecanoe and after being selected as first pick of the first alliance at Miami Valley Regional, 234 is looking to continue their return to glory as one of the vaunted teams in the state. Look for them to add autonomous fuel scoring to their breakneck teleoperated gear placing.
1720
PhyXTGears brought a deadshot autonomous to their first event at Penn High School, easily one of the most accurate autonomous routines in the state. In round 2, what improvements will they have in store? If they can reach the hopper in autonomous, watch out for 1720.
3940
Like 1501, this event won’t count towards their standings. The CyberTooth robot will be a force to be reckoned with in the fuel race; posting 96 fuel points at Tippecanoe and 189 fuel points at St Joseph. Let’s see what kind of pressure they can put on their opponents as we move towards the State Championship.
Darkhorses:
1529
The CyberCards flew high at Tippecanoe, finishing ranked 6th, but weren’t able to get out of quarterfinals. If they can improve their gear pickup to pair up with their already consistent climber, the ceiling is the roof for 1529 (that’s a sportsball reference, for those who didn’t know. We all know FRC is the REAL March Madness!).
6451
These rookies from Whiteland proved to be much more than rookies when it came to scoring fuel. 6451 posted 101 points from pressure at Tippecanoe, leading the way at the event. Somehow, they went unselected through alliance selections. Don’t expect them to miss out on playoffs at Perry.
6498
Castle Robotics broke onto the scene at Tippecanoe with a consistent gear-placing autonomous, solid driving, and dependable climber. With the help of 1024 and 292, they gave the 4272-1501 combination a run for their money in semifinals. Expect them to contend for the playoffs again at Perry.
6721
The Tindley Trailblazers complete the solid trio of rookies in the state of Indiana. At St Joseph, 6721 was able to provide their alliances with a simplistic, straight-forward gear-runner and climber. With one event under their belts, expect them to become even more consistent contributors to winning alliances.
Strategy discussion:
As the game progresses, fuel will become the deciding factor in many playoff matches. Indiana has proven its teams are among the global leaders for climbing (St Joseph event had a 61.9% success rate, good for 2nd out of the 73 events to date), and gear scoring has a definite ceiling. As the competition approaches the deadlock at the top, teams will look to fuel to break the tie. Some teams have focused on fine-tuning their autonomous fuel scoring; others look to lean on teleop fuel scoring and situational defense after placing their initial gears. Yet others are going all-in on gears, redesigning more refined and reliable gear loading mechanisms. There may be a bumpy start to the Perry Meridian district event, but as teams acclimate to their design changes, we expect some sky-high scores in the playoffs.
Good luck to all teams competing this weekend!
Kinda surprised at the amount of quality teams that didn’t make the list though (4103, 868, 1741, 1024, and 4485 to name a few)