beowulf

I'll be watching the bands in the Alamodome, but I'm pretty excited about this contest. I agree that all five should have a chance at finals. Churchill seems to be on the mend finally, and I'm hoping they'll be in the top half of finals. Bell could medal, but I don't think they can beat Tarpon Springs. Given all of the Texas bands involved in Atlanta and Grand Nats, will those contests make the predictions page?

Tentative schedule in McAllen - last six bands perform starting at 7pm. No finals. Awards at 9:40pm. Update - McAllen pushed back another 1/2 hour. Field too wet.

This is possibly the toughest regional in the country, and some terrific bands won't make finals. There have been a lot director changes this year, including at Leander, Cedar Ridge, Westlake, and Bowie. I'll wait until some early competitions and videos to be posted before making any predictions. On the plus side, Churchill seems to be rebounding. Their numbers were way down a few years ago. Now they're at almost 300.

CTJ might not be as dominant as expected, though they will probaby win over this field.. They lost a lot of brass talent due to graduation, plus they're dealilng with a personal tragedy. The next four, I think, will be CC, Wagner, Harlingen, and O'Connor, unsure of order.

Brandon, UNT is a fine school, but your post is overboard and silly. As for "not holding a candle to UNT" for performance, feel free to look at the rosters of every major symphony orchestra in America, and compare Rice to UNT. I expect you would find at least a 10:1 ratio in Rice's favor. For jazz, UNT is supreme. For music ed, it is one of several excellent colleges in Texas.

CTJ and Cedar Ridge are both planning to go to Grand Nats next year, from what I've heard. My guess is that several Texas bands will make the trip, like last year.

Some observations I had - 9 of the finalist bands were from area D, 4 from area B, only one from the other five areas. UIL realignment is overdue. This was the best finals I've ever seen. Reagan was much better than last season but slipped from 5th to 9th. The competition was that good. Also, Marcus and Woodlands taking 1st and 2nd in class without any captions also shows how much parity now exists - there are no one or two dominant bands anymore. On the other hand, with the exception of one extremely odd GE score, CTJ would have walked away with two captions and first place in the prelims. In that respect, their finals placement wasn't much of a surprise.

I agree. Area D is packed with extremely good bands, whereas area G is weak. The six area D bands at state could all make finals this year, while most of the 8 area G bands will be at the bottom of prelims, as usual. My suggestion - move region 11 to Area D and region 12 to Area G. This would move up a couple of the Area D bands that should be at state, like Round Rock, Anderson, and Hendrickson, while Reagan, CTJ, and Churchill would be locks out of area G, with other bands like Judson and Wagner also competitive. Suddenly area D becomes slightly less of a bloodbath, and area G gets two of the top bands in the state (nation) plus a lot of other worthy programs.

Reagan was wonderful last night. Reagan-Johnson-Bowie were very evenly matched.

Interesting scores. Is there a list anywhere of who the judges were?

My mistake - it looks Hebron's taking buses. But, it is an overnight trip. Check that, it's a 5 night/4 day trip to SA! They're going to stay from Friday night to Wednesday morning, covering both competitions.

With a borderline finals band, this might be a good point. However, I'm confident we'll see Hebron in the finals. Also, Hebron's flying to SA Fiday night and sleeping in a hotel. On the other hand, Spring is performing at 9:30am Saturday morning. However, I'm guessing they'll make it an overnight trip, too.

I'm going to try to see all the bands and expect a wonderful competition! UIL placements don't usually mirror BOA scoring, so it's very hard to guess who will make the top 10 or the eventual top 6, though there are obviously four or five bands that pretty much everyone is expecting to go to state (CTJ, Bowie, RR, Reagan, maybe CR). Most of the lists seem to be Austin heavy, and that's probably accurate, but don't count out Churchill. I hear they've been cleaning things up and have a very entertaining show. One that most likely won't make the cut, but has a fun show to watch, is Lee. In region 12, Johnson and Reagan remain the powerhouses, but Churchill can play the spoiler. Judson and Wagner could be dark horses also vying for a finals slot.

I just counted, and my list was just 13. That works out, because there are about a dozen other bands I would have liked to have included on that list! As everyone else is saying, I can't wait for BOA SA. Pretty much all the usual suspects will be there but Coppell and Cedar Ridge. Great contest!

My top 5, in alphabetical order: Bowie, Hebron, Johnson, Marcus, Woodlands Probable finalists: Reagan, Cedar Park, Flower Mound, Leander, Bell, Woodlands College Park, Round Rock, Vandegrift That's 14. I don't know if all 14 will make finals, but it's my best guess for now.

I'd love to go this weekend. I'll agree with everyone else that the top 3 should be CTJ, Reagan, and the Woodlands, but I have no idea what the order will end up being. As for Tuesday night, Reagan was the cleanest band at the festival. Very polished, even by Reagan standards, for this time of year. Johnson was a bit sloppy in the new drill sections and lost some steam by the end of the show but had a great stadium rehearsal last night. They could win BOA San Antonio in a few weeks, but they might be like Hebron last year and take a bit longer to get things in great shape. Churchill, I think, will make finals, but be in the lower half of the draw. They play well, and the British themed program should be a crowd pleaser, but their show has problems and will probably get rewritten a bit in the next couple of weeks. I haven't seen the Woodlands but, I have no doubt, they'll be at or near the top at every contest. I am looking forward to BOA San Antonio and hope to see every band this year. It really is the best marching contest in the country. The only band I'll miss will be Cedar Ridge, who will travel to California instead.

The list just got posted today! Texas will be well represented: Marcus, Bell, Woodlands, Cedar Ridge, Round Rock! http://www.musicforall.org/what-we-do/marching/grand-national-championships/gn-enrolled-bands

I've heard that Churchill is considering going next year, but nothing is final. They're doing a lot of soul searching right now. CTJ wants to return, but they have a New York trip this year and the Rose Bowl next year. It will probably be 2014 for them.

Bowie - top 5 Reagan - 6-10 That's about as specific as I can get. Which is the better competiiton, Grand Nats or San Antonio super regional? I'm pretty sure Marcus would dominate in Indy this year. How many of the Texas bands would make finals at Nationals if all of the top groups were there?

http://i.imgur.com/5ptBb.png Warning - some profanity on link.