Tuesday, May 15, 2007

NSSBC 2007 Field

The Regional Results are in homies, now let's get a full list of those invited shall we?

TEX-MEX
From the Lone Star state comes perennial Texas power the Texas A & M Aggies, who're making their God knows how manyeth straight appearance at the NSSBC. Up and coming University of Texas Longhorns took the second spot. The Aggies will feature a beam that will no doubt have a great economy score associated with it. Texas will go with a 6 chord chicken foot flat top truss that was tops in lightness at the Tex-Mex held at Texas Tech in Lubbock in mid-January.

MIDWEST
One of the best, if not, the best Steel Bridge Conference in recent years. Defending NSSBC Champions, the NDSU Bison, won top honors despite a few hiccups along the way. Thunder Bay's Lakehead University (5th in 2006 NSSBC) will be joining their MW counterparts with a strong second showing. The Bison will display their very lightweight V-Warren Truss, obviously designed with lightness and some economy in mind. It has a shear lag deck and is essentially built as a very large tube. Lakehead features a lightweight "AV" beam deck, which maximizes box depth. While the Bison topped the MW in efficiency, the Lakeheaders took home the MW gold for Economy. Both finished very close to each other, but look for NDSU to pull away with a better construction time come Northridge. Minnesota State University, Mankato hosted the Midwest Conference in mid-March. Minnesota will also be at the NSSBC. They showed strong stiffness and a good looking build crew in Mankato. They could pass Lakehead with some speed as well.

NEW ENGLAND (a.k.a. NORTHEAST)
A tight race for first place out of Storrs, CT. UConn hosted the New England Regionals and they also managed to qualify for Cali. Merrimack, 2004 NE champion pulled out top honors due to a very good time. M.I.T., with the help of Merrimack alumnus, nabbed second, and UConn finished a close 3rd. Beams across the board for the NE regional qualifiers, look for some good economy coming out of the New England.

DEEP SOUTH
Some apparent issue with Arkansas State and the Mead Paper may leave them out of the NSSBC. ASU was the Overall Deep South Champion in Ruston but Mississippi State and Louisiana State have both qualified. Whether or not ASU was blocked from Nationals play, look for a good showing from the Deep South. LSU finished 3rd at the 2005 Nats in Orlando with a very good assembly time, they sport a spider leg truss with many chords, however, so the time may be a bit higher than usual. Mississippi State has a very straight forward chicken foot truss that was obviously good enough for 2nd at LA Tech, so they must be doing something right.

SOUTHEAST
A HUGE friggin' conference that brings out a lot of Overall talent, not just Bridge, but also in the Concrete Canoe. Them Gators rise from the 2006 ashes and put up a smokin' good time and stiffness to take the SE crown held in Knoxville. Southern Poly will have to settle for second, and North Florida qualifies for the second year in a row. The Gators have produced a bit of a lowriding 6 chord truss that was built for speed. It is Urban Meyer approved and shows some NSSBC top 3-like stiffness numbers. UNF wields a 4 chord Monstro truss that looks both fast, and relatively light. SPSU is sporting a truss most likely that with a little work will be much faster come NSSBC time.

OHIO VALLEY
Speed, Speed, Speed for the Youngstown Penguins and their beam which performed very well in the Overall at Columbus. A surprise in Geneva College, who will make their first showing ever at the NSSBC. Geneva is also bolstering a beam for speed.

NORTH CENTRAL
Lawrence Tech proves their mettle yet again with a very efficient truss design that could rival NDSU for lightness at Nats. Michigan State takes the second place trophy at MTU with an obviously solid effort in economy. Some Steel Bridge veterans are still wondering what has happened to Michigan.

PSWRC
Trying to rival the SE as the biggest Regional Conference in the nation. UC San Diego hosted the events on one of the prettiest campuses in America. The Tritons placed third with a rather exotic steeple type truss reminiscent of Steel Bridges from back in the 90's. 2007 NSSBC host CSUN took top honors and earn their own way into the NSSBC with a light looking truss. UC Irvine (Hi, I'm from Ivine...Hi John how are the kids? I hump like this...ha ha ha...pleasure, pleasure...) makes it to the NSSBC finally to join Davis and SD as the 3 UC's in the event. Irvine has a light looking truss as well.

CAROLINAS
Alright, the mystery conference. The Tigers of Clemson took 2nd Place Overall with a very deep, light looking and constructible flat top truss. Clemson definitely looks like a contender with that design. Rounding out the field is the 2007 Carolinas Champion, probably Georgia Tech, though maybe UNC Charlotte sneaks in and dominates like they've come so close to many a year. Also, one of the best Steel Bridge Conferences in recent years, both the Yellow Jackets and the Tigers finished very high last season.

PNWRC
Hosted by AK Fairbanks, the PSU Viks step up and take the Northwest with a very well balanced bridge. Portland State looks deep, constructible, and put up a decent stiffness. The only thing lacking here may be some weight issues. Oregon Tech and Idaho round out the top three. OIT had a hard, hard working construction crew putting together a very chordy design, and Idaho looks to have a very fast truss looking very much like SUNY Canton in 2005.


METROPOLITAN
Regional power, the NJIT Highlanders put out a very constructible truss looking a lot like North Florida and SFSU from the Mid-Pacific. They took 1st in just about everything (again) at the Metro held in Brooklyn. New York City College of Technology will also be joining NJIT in California with another efficient looking truss.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN
Wyoming gets their beam down to a very minimal time, and holds up structurally to take the Rocky Mountain Highest Honor. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology take second and Colorado School of Mines takes third. The two later Mines schools both have shallow trusses that will do well in the Overall with a little bit of practice.

UPSTATE NEW YORK
All Canton here folks, no question, they're light, they're fast, they don't deflect too, too much, it's the design that a Team needed to go with this year. Looks like a flat top truss with some very spidery looking cross chords in the right locations for the Northstars. More Canadiens in the mix as ETS again is coming to the NSSBC all trussed out after their second place finish at Cornell.

VIRGINIAS
VMI was the host, and Virginia Tech Hokie spirt prevailed yet again. VT takes first place honors with the very, very light looking double V truss. WVU gets the second place nod being the stiffest in Lexington.

MID-CONTINENT
Out in the state of Kansas, UMKC takes home the MidCon gold with their wide walled 8 chord truss. Looks light, stiff, and seems to have a solid build crew. Kansas State burned through their construction run at Regionals and will show off their light and fast truss in SoCal. Mizzou goes beamin' and takes home 3rd.

MIDPAC
The joint hosting job of Santa Clara and SJSU was phenomenal as the UC Davis Aggies rode home with golds in everything but stiffness. The Aggies will have a 4 chord spider leg truss that is light, nationally stiff, and getting more and more economical as the NSSBC gets closer. SFSU will travel downstate to join the Ags as the Mid-Pacific representatives. The have a double A truss with heavy wall tubing all around to boost stiffness. Their construction crew was very skilled and well practiced at Mid-Pac so look for a good showing by the West Coast Gators in Northridge.

GREAT LAKES
Badgers, Badgers, Badgers! Fast time, reasonably light, and a solid stiffness, it's good enough for a smooth Overall victory at Purdue for Wisconsin. UIUC will have to again play catch up at Nationals with their flat top truss.


MID-ATLANTIC
Lafayette is coming up and they have very high goals for themselves. They dominated the competition in College Park in almost all categories. Look for a light, fast bridge from the Leopards. Delaware will be in the mix at the NSSBC too with their Blue Hen truss. Penn State again, off the NSSBC radar for 2007.

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