meursault

Wakeland hit upper 190s, lower 200s for a pretty sizable chunk of their 2015 show, with some of the more difficult drill I've ever seen from a high school.

Do we think that the time slots will change predictions in any way? I can definitely see Vista and Duncanville sliding down in prelims, but I'm confident they're both strong finals contenders where obviously the early morning time slot won't matter as much. But then again, we've seen it happen several times before, a strong "lock" band gets a horrible time slot and slides out of finals.... any thoughts?

I know... I really wish that scheduling would take distance into account more! It's debilitating for kids to have to wake up so early to perform, and hotels rack up tons of extra money obviously.

Is that a trumpet screamer at the end of Coppell's show??? Haha I love it

Almost every band has had their first game... any show videos up?

I don't know how true that really is, it will be close between Marcus and Hebron definitely and I'm SURE Keller will have a super strong showing as they have. Ascend was one of my fav shows last year so hopefully they can continue to improve!

I personally love it when bands do this! It spreads how they're doing and really lets you see growth through the season. Also, Leander always looks fantastic anyway!

This is definitely Marcus's to lose. Keller will definitely put up a great showing and they have been rising QUICKLY the past few years so if anyone can topple Marcus here, I think it's them. After that, Berkner and Keller Central seem the most likely, followed by Wylie, Byron Nelson, or the McKinney's. So here's mine: Marcus Keller Keller Central Berkner Wylie Byron Nelson McKinney's

Agreed. Wanted to give some attention to their guard too- of course the winds are doing amazing but holy cow! If this is the level that guard is starting at, their finish will be incredible.

Ah, I completely missed out of TX BOA's- my bad. BUT I do think it is significant to point out that Coppell and Haltom go head to head every two years through UIL.... and Coppell is usually on top. I definitely agree with your point though about Richland and Haltom (and Coppell, and Wakeland) being incredible bands- I've really enjoyed all of their performances that I've seen live or on video.

I honestly don't know if Haltom or Berkner can shoot up that much against Wakeland and Coppell to be honest. I don't think Haltom has competed in any BOA in the past few years (correct me if I'm wrong), and Coppell's been pretty consistently beating them on the UIL side of things. Wakeland has been improving steadily over the past few years, and 2015 is still one of my favorite high school shows from the past few years. They dropped off DFW and SA finals because they had a completely new staff, but at DFW they still got 11. I just don't see either Haltom or Berkner, who placed 14 at DFW last year, rising above either Wakeland or Coppell. It really will be dependent on if the new staff at both Wakeland and Coppell can settle in this year and rebound from their drops last year. Given both bands' histories and performances over the last few years, I think they'll still both be above Haltom and Berkner. Also, I think Keller Central is going to have a great showing too, even potentially making finals. They've made DFW finals for the past two years now with some really entertaining shows. I know each year the competition gets more intense, but I wouldn't discount Keller Central from making finals. EDIT: Wow, for some reason I completely forgot what thread I'm in and thought this was BOA DFW predictions. My bad!!! I think some of the points I made can still stand, but wow- I feel dumb.

Loved Cy-Fair's show last year, and North Shore has been making some really great strides in the past few years! SFA too- definitely looking forward to everything they put out.

the problem wasn't that they were posting about their own band, it was that a) they do it constantly, which can kinda drown out discussion on the forum and b ) they started a new thread to do this when a different thread already exists. I agree that its great to publicize other bands so we don't just constantly talk about the same top 15 or so bands in the state, but this thread was a little excessive.

My predictions: Top 3: Flomo, Marcus, Hebron. The order could easily change up though. I don't logically seeing any other band touching the LISD schools given the past few years. 4-5: LD Bell and Keller. Again, order could change. LD Bell shot back last year with a gorgeously artistic show, and will be looking to carry that momentum, and Keller has just been a really consistent and great band for the past few years. Especially last year, they had some AWESOME performances with Ascend and beat some other really great bands. They'll be looking strong again. And I honestly think that's the end of the locks. IMO the other finals spots are gonna be a battle between (in somewhat the listed order): Coppell Martin Vista Ridge Wakeland Keller Central DVille Waxahachie Looking forward to watching!!

I think we can mostly agree that the top 4 spots will probably be Leander, the Woodlands, Vandegrift, and Reagan (in whatever order). Then the next few will be Round Rock, Churchill, Cy-Fair, and Hendrickson. (again, in whatever order). Then that leaves about 2 spots left, which I'm guessing will be taken up by Bowie, Waxahachie, or Coppell. Bowie had absolutely insane circumstances last year: from what I heard, they didn't even have a set director until significantly into the summer and therefore were already starting off at a time and design disadvantage. But nonetheless, they had a fairly successful season and a really fun show. They finished 5th at BOA DFW, and made pretty high in Semis in Grand Nats (don't remember exactly). They definitely have the potential to rise up above the last two spots, it just depends on how good their staff is. I think they're definitely going to improve tremendously over last year, regardless. And last year was still a great show. Coppell I think also has a great chance to jump in there. They also have a new staff in their second season, similar to Bowie, (their new staff is basically all of Wakeland's old directors) and it showed last year. It took them a while to get going (they didn't make BOA DFW finals, and didn't compete in San Antonio) but by the time State Finals rolled around... they had a gorgeous show that was a HUGE improvement over the past few years. Also, from what I can tell, for those involved in the drum corps world, Blue Knights 2017 may or may not be fairly inspired by Coppell 2016. Pretty cool. If they can get the ball rolling a little quicker this year, I'd say they have a lock. I definitely have my eye on them. Waxahachie, admittedly, I'm the most unfamiliar with. All I know is that they made BOA DFW finals last year in a crazy competition, and made UIL State Finals the year before, beating Centennial and Aledo. Also, they did a Queen show last year that was just a lot of fun to watch. They could definitely surprise a few people- they surprised me last year! Some other finals contenders: JET, Pearland, Oak Ridge..... I'm so excited for this! Between Conroe, DFW, and San Antonio, this marching season is going to be absolutely CRAZY.

I don't know about winning, but making finals and doing well in finals, certainly. BOA Conroe is INSANELY stacked this year, and will probably be just as intense as BOA DFW. We've got Leander, Vandegrift, the Woodlands, Bowie, and Reagan who I personally think will be filling out the top spots. But I am definitely excited to see what Churchill is going to bring to the table this year. Last year was just a beautiful show, but their biggest competition is probably going to be from Hendrickson, Cy-Fair, and Round Rock (and Waxahachie? idk) who also had some AWESOME shows last year.

Also, as far as Avon winning San Antonio this year... I say, bring it on. Finals is gonna be a bloodbath.

From what I understand, part of the 8-hour rule comes from STATE LAW (through TEA), not just UIL. As far as I know, UIL only lets marching bands have 8 hours all week, while TEA mandates 8 hours from Mon-Fri (leaving weekends wide open.) But then, no more UIL competitions for a full cycle- aka two years. So let's look at potential upsides/downsides. Upsides: -Free weekend hours (big for working visual packages) -No strange UIL judging/regulations (aka shows longer than the 8-minute cap!!!!!) -"UIL heavy hitters" are free to explore some cooler/less traditional options (although the huge disparity of super-traditional UIL vs "modern" BOA is slowly falling away IMO) -Makes BOA SA/BOA GN more reasonable especially with the crazy schedule of 2016 (see: CTJ) Downsides: -Lose out on free contests/chances to run show in contest setting (Region, Area... even State) -No more UIL Region, UIL Concert, or TMEA Honor Band (I think... someone might need to fact check that) for TWO YEARS! -lose some state-wide reputation that UIL brings Honestly it's hard to tell whether it's worth it. There are a few bands that I can think that could possibly benefit from dropping UIL... but honestly, provided that memory serves correct, idk if that extra weekend block is even worth it as you still are limited to the 8-hours during the school week.

It really is. At 6A State Finals, there were FOUR bands within a 15 minute drive of each other. Bell and Keller aren't too far away either! All of these schools have strong concert programs as well, and obviously have amazing individual talent. The DFW metroplex just produces awesome, awesome music programs.

Also congrats to everyone else who made it this year! TMEA is an awesome experience. Enjoy it!

I predict the top 3 to be between Richland, DVille, and Frisco Centennial. Thoughts?