Quick note before we begin.
Above, I have created a poll. Please fill it out, as I’m curious as to what you all think. If you have an idea that isn’t in any of the categories you can vote for, comment below on what it is. Thank you!
What’s Going On This Week?
Idaho (Follow it here!):
It’s one of the FRC’s smaller regionals, but the lineup of teams attending this year is stacked. This will be the second time Boise hosts a regional, and it will be a clash of regions. Many California and PNW teams will be fighting for one of the few remaining Championship slots, and it might just get crazy. Here’s the regional breakdown:
- 13 Idaho teams
- 10 California teams
- 8 Utah teams
- 2 Alberta teams
- 2 Arizona teams
- 1 Montana team
- 1 New Mexico team
- 1 Washington team
Of these, five are rookies.
The Biggest Teams to Watch:
2122 had a bit of a disappointing outing at the Utah Regional; being eliminated in the semis and coming home with no hardware. However, if I know Team Tators they’re going to come out swinging this week with an improved robot. They didn’t use their shooter outside of autonomous at Utah, but that may change this weekend. Even if they don’t, their active gear mechanism will be an enormous advantage during the competition. Their robot has serious potential, and they’ll be out to prove this weekend that they are still in the FRC’s top tier.
2486 very nearly beat the Beach Bots at Los Angeles. Their robot improved significantly from its showing at Flagstaff, seeding third overall in a very competitive field and just barely losing out to the former world champions in the finals after a connection issue. The CocoNuts may have already secured their spot at the Championship, but they want a regional win before then. At Idaho, they’ll be firing on all cylinders to bring their team another blue banner. Their robot is very capable, from gears to climbs, and this team from Arizona will be one to watch. On another note, they haven’t yet won the Chairman’s Award this year to the surprise of many. Will this be the event where they do?
Last year’s Idaho Regional champions, 3230, will be coming back to Boise in an attempt to win again. They have a sturdy and reliable robot, but they went out in the quarterfinals of Utah after losing out to the Tators. PrototypeX showed promise, and their improvements to their robot might mean they win Idaho for the second year in a row. They never failed to climb at Utah, ran gears well, and even used their low goal feeder every now and then. If they can use these well in Idaho this weekend, they might win again.
Other Teams to Look Out For:
A number of teams from Utah that made eliminations in Salt Lake City will be trying again at Boise. 4598, 3006, and 5933 all ran gears, and did so pretty well. Icarus Innovated and JudgeMent Call were both eliminated in the quarters, with Red Rock making it to the semis. They will all be gunning for gold in Boise this weekend, and these teams all have excellent chances of going deep into the playoffs. Due to this being the last chance these teams have to reach the Championship, I think they’ll be playing at their best.
The two teams from Pocatello, 1569 and 3562, will be unbagging for the first time this season. Haywire and LiveWire both performed respectably last year, with Haywire captaining an alliance to the semis and LiveWire receiving the Engineering Inspiration Award. Look for these two teams to perform well and maybe even make a deep run into the eliminations.