drumlinerox

So, across the 33 Regions, about 250 bands tried out. 202 made Area competitions. 40 made it to San Antonio. All of these band students at all of these programs work hard to attempt to get to SA - Congrats to all of them!! That being said, only about 15% make it to the State competition - and only about 5% make the Finals. That's quite a feat. I know it's history, but of the 40 bands attending this year - I see only 12 that have consistently made the Finals (or very near the Finals) in the last 3 outings (2014, 2012, and 2010) . . . in order of appearance at each of the 8 different Areas. Area B (Keller, Duncanville, LD Bell - don't think they attended in '14, Coppell) Area C (Flomo - actually didn't make finals I don't think in '12 or '10 - but hard to ignore this year, Hebron, Marcus) Area D (Reagan, Bowie) Area F (Spring - not '14, The Woodlands) Area H (Westlake - not '14) Not appearing this year (either chose not to or didn't advance), but have been stiff competition in the past: CTJohnson Rowlett Churchill Fairly new up and comers (at least in this class I think) that could def compete this year: Round Rock Hendrickson Vandergrift Leander Old guard that have been amazing in the past, have fallen off in recent years, but still stand out this year: Plano East Berkner I'm sure there's others All that being said, they're all adding to and refining their shows in this last week. But it will be hard to ignore those previously mentioned 12 . . . it's going to be crowded at the top!

By the way, I don't believe in "locks" - unless the judges have built in bias. As with any music contest, it's unfortunately got a very subjective element - unlike say, the final of a basketball game where the score is 96-85 . . . somebody clearly won that contest. Certainly need to march/play well, have a sharp visual element, etc. But any program that puts in the time, resources, and commitment can come up and surprise us all.

That's supposed to read "Congrats to all of them!!"

So, across the 33 Regions, about 250 bands tried out. 202 made Area competitions. 40 made it to San Antonio. All of these band students at all of these programs work hard to attempt to get to SA - Congrats to all of them?? That being said, only about 15% make it to the State competition - and only about 5% make the Finals. That's quite a feat. I know it's history, but of the 40 bands attending this year - I see only 12 that have consistently made the Finals (or very near the Finals) in the last 3 outings (2014, 2012, and 2010) . . . in order of appearance at each of the 8 different Areas. Area B (Keller, Duncanville, LD Bell - don't think they attended in '14, Coppell) Area C (Flomo - actually didn't make finals I don't think in '12 or '10 - but hard to ignore this year, Hebron, Marcus) Area D (Reagan, Bowie) Area F (Spring - not '14, The Woodlands) Area H (Westlake - not '14) Not appearing this year (either chose not to or didn't advance), but have been stiff competition in the past: CTJohnson Rowlett Churchill Fairly new up and comers (at least in this class I think) that could def compete this year: Round Rock Hendrickson Vandergrift Leander Old guard that have been amazing in the past, have fallen off in recent years, but still stand out this year: Plano East Berkner I'm sure there's others All that being said, they're all adding and refining shows in this last week. But it will be hard to ignore those previously mentioned 12 . . . it's going to be crowded at the top!

Thanks - there are certainly several other bands that get mentioned often - but it seems to be a regional thing. I.e. in Houston one will hear of TWHS and Spring, etc. In Austin - Bowie, Westlake, Cedar Park, Reagan, CTJ. And I agree with you JM - they ARE all good bands. But when N. Texas is talked about - it's almost always just Hebron, Marcus & LDBell (though surprisingly they didn't make it this year - I heard it was close) - but never Coppell. I agree with an earlier poster that said it's going to be a bloodbath making Finals in SA - at least for the bottom 3-5. Can probably expect Marcus, Hebron, Woodlands, Bowie (and I would like to think Coppell). But are those bands really that much better than all the others that they ALWAYS take the top spots?? I go back to my college football analogy - ESPN clearly favors the SEC. And all the networks clearly favor P5 conferences over any other. There's just so much "built in" predisposition to the top names - that I think it must have some subconscious impact on the judges objectivism.

Re-Phrase - meant to state they've made it to UIL State Competition every year except one since becoming 5A (now 6A) in 2000. And have made Finals in SA 4 years in a row . . .

Region re-alignment . . . why is that? Just trying to learn.

I think these threads are interesting - kind of like talking about college football teams. If one is a "storied" program - then they continue to be . . . just because. Their could be some real good teams, but b/c their in a non-power conference - they just don't get the attention (case in point - UCF beating Baylor last year in the Fiesta bowl - or W. Virginia, TCU and Boise winning their big bowl games in the past against power conference teams). Same with bands - the names that are always thrown out are Marcus, Hebron, Bell, Woodlands, Bowie, etc. But I'm curious why a band like Coppell is rarely, if ever mentioned? With the exception of 1 year, they've made it to San Antonio and Finals every year since making the jump to 5A (now 6A) in 2000. And those showings include a 3rd place finish, 2 5th's and a 7th in Finals. Actually finished 3rd in Prelims in 2010 but got bumped down to 5th in Finals - b/c they use different judges in Finals -vs- Prelims?? I think ANY band that consistently makes Finals in San Antonio has a shot - at least to medal.