TrenBS

Yeah, I'd imagine with a big enough competitive pool of LISD and Broken Arrow yearly they would be more inclined to go, I also think it would connect the nations' marching groups outside of power states since it gives a big event for anyone to throw their hat in the ring and be exposed to different states, sadly it wont happen since I have no knowledge of any OK stadium/area that could sustain such a large pool of groups

I posted a similar concern in area C with a similar problem, there are way too many high-level consistent groups over there with only 6 slots being reasonably possible to happen in that area, I think there needs to be an area J with the main "powerhouse ISD" being Prosper, especially with Richland high school (literally West Side Prosper, very on the nose lol) opening in 2025, the amount of state slots make zero sense with the skill of many of the bands and amount of them, and with Coppell, Waxahachie, and LISD never losing their lock slots until they lose their entire staff.

Im going to be lightly focusing on this season this year (this is the only long post as it's a main concern of mine for the future), so this will be the only place I try to predict besides maybe a BOA, but with Forney moving up, I think this area has become overly competitive, to the point of ridiculousness, so many bands are now actively losing opportunities purely because they are in this area, I can see 5 potential State Finalists now with Prosper on an incredible incline and Forney who beat Leander at the State finals this past year, and what happens if a Frisco school like Wakeland or Lone Star move up? What about McKinney North? That's a very real possibility because I severely doubt those 3 (which also only bumps the area up to 35 bands with one school rarely advancing, so no more new area slots or state slots) would miss finals. This area and Area B need to be adjusted because I feel like it's going to stop being enjoyable for the middle road of bands when it becomes impossible to pierce into finals considering how consistent the finalist programs have and will become. The area contest was built on a completely different foundation and competitiveness of Marching band, and now many bands that would easily have made state finals back in the 2000s and early 2010s (modern-day bands, not like them back in the 2000s) aren't even making state prelims, sometimes area finals, I believe something either needs to change about the structure of the area contest or a new area has to be made to counteract the serious density of North Texas, simply too many qualified bands are losing opportunities and it's getting frustrating honestly. Anyways, here is my prediction, if Boyd introduces more advanced techniques to their consistency and recently strong writing, then I would place them somewhere in the qualifier spot, but otherwise here's my 2024 prediction early on, with * being a lock for area finals in skill: 1. Hebron** 2. Flower Mound** 3. Marcus** 4. Forney* 5. Prosper* 6. Wylie East* 7. Wylie* 8. McKinney Boyd* 9. McKinney High 10. Rock Hill* 11. Rockwall* 12. Pool from area finalists in 2023/2022 McKinney High just got their groove back this year and we will have to see if they maintain, but let's say they do, all these other bands have consistently made area finals the past 2-3 years (depending on the band), and there's no sign that this will be changing for now, and I do not like this fact, if we start seeing director shifts or dramatic changes then obviously this will have more of the random opportunities we've had in the past, but this area is starting to feel set in stone if nothing changes since teaching methods have only become more consistently good, and if anyone disagrees that's ok, I'm just concerned for what happens if there's zero hope for any band to break into area finals, I don't believe it should ever be competitive at this scale while locking many qualified groups out of the state experience, there's simply too many good groups in a cluster with a lack of potential for success.

I honestly wish Oklahoma had a place big and nice enough to hold a super regional, it would allow neighboring states to get a foothold in super regionals and give North Texas/Indiana bands a chance to conglomerate much easier along with being cheaper overall on travels, its more of a wish since we already are filled with Super regionals and I doubt St.Louis would alternate (and there's no way they would remove BOA SA), but its something I've thought about recently

I mean that feels kinda redundant considering people can look it up lol, but regardless, liked yalls show this year!

I really think the only band that could/should even attempt both SA and Nats is Broken Arrow, great funding, much more central location, and overall just a much easier time between the two rather than the SA bands who have to travel extremely far for nats which right off of SA is pretty grueling, LISD just simply doesnt have the funding to double up on it consistently, and otherwise its just super inconvenient for anyone else with smaller programs Trying both just seems like your asking for trouble

After Flower-Mounds “rest season” last year, I doubt they are going to go to WMI this year considering they are on the same day, although if they do it would be an insane power move😂

Seems like Texas is gonna be a lot less Texas-y next year, we’ll gotta see!

Im less concerned about the next season and more excited, I felt like these past 2 seasons have had incredible shows and displays of skill, but the timelines were so restrictive and short that most bands in Texas couldnt really breathe at any point or do many competitions unless they could afford to do super regional or nats every year, as state is only guaranteed for so many groups, which ended up making these past 2 seasons feel very fast in comparison to previous years when school started later which allowed more practice time. With the extra 5 visual hours and the longer season it not only incentivizes earlier competitions as now most bands can add more competitions in October for their full show which makes early comps for slow burn schools much more appealing, but it seems like there are many more opportunities for groups that cant break into the upper bubbles more chances for feedback and to display their skill. My biggest issue with it is budgetary, as more comps result in a need for a higher budget, but it seems like bands are finding ways to cut costs and fundraise without being intrusive, otherwise Im glad we got back a lot of the season we lost when summer band got cut pretty heavily with new schedules having school start early August, so I believe 2024 will be probably the best season we will have so far, or at least we will have to see

Argyle is still much closer to 4A and 6A, if the city grows substantially it could happen, otherwise they may sit pretty at 5A

Both had very good runs, I expect them in finals👍

Yeah, although it is prelims so initially its gonna be more random, but thats my rough guesstimate

I would say as of now my personal prediction stands, Boyd's run was pretty good considering their 4AM call time at the school, and was one of the cleanest groups of this half, although I was heavily underestimating Eaton as a whole, Im not sure if I would place them in finals due to dirt, but at BOA they would for sure perform well, otherwise these are my potential finalists in this half in my opinion: Hebron Marcus McKinney Boyd Wylie Braswell Rock Hill Lewisville Sachse Rockwall

Just to answer and point something out, but theres no GE, and a tie for anything above 5th with 2 schools will be broken and therefore create a full 7th place band which means zero extras from the “top 6” will be added to state, I dont know about 3 way ties going past 6th honestly so cant answer that, and Waxahachie isnt here, which would make most of this area cry if they were😭

6 for this area, 12 finalists and a tie for 6th means both bands advance, so there is room for that

This is my current prediction but it could flip flop with anyone in the 5-9 range personally, I think Boyd and WEast have the best shot since they overall with balancing cleanliness and difficulty are the best in UIL standards (Boyd had probably the easiest show in finals last year and got 6th due to cleanliness, they are way cleaner this year with a show more in line difficulty wise with the finals group so I believe they will place high, and WEast is harder and while less clean, still shows clear improvement from last year while having a tougher show), but frankly it could go any way, Boyd and WEast could just as easily place 9th and 10th as they could place 5th and 6th, the only groups that are locked in state personally are the top 4, everyone else completely depends on if its a good run and/or what the judges see as superior for UIL. My two scenarios for the last 2 state qualifiers if I had to pick out based on difficulty would be Rock Hill and Wylie East, and cleanliness would be a fight between Boyd, and the Wylies, but again could be dead wrong and the two finalists could be Braswell and Rockwall or Sachse and McKinney high, this year is such a hard year to predict since everyones improved so much that finding whos superior on the micro level which area is all about, is nearly impossible, so people shouldnt really worry much about the placements besides just having the privilege of experiencing state, and should just enjoy being able to compete with incredible bands

This is going to be by far the most talented area C 6A competition, personally, I think 2021 was the most entertaining but just looking at all of these bands, its clear that this is going to have the highest quality performances to ever come out of this area, with 3 (essentially) locked state finalists, 1 group that could be low finalist/top 16, and a cluster of groups just trying to brute force their way into the teens at state (the McKinneys, the Wylies, Braswell, Rockwall, and Rock Hill just to name the ones that most people expect) and groups that would certainly place in the top half if they can get past area, which is not mentioning the groups that have strong chances of breaking into area and would have been locks had they competed at this level ANY other year, so even if your band or your alma mater doesn't place like you expect, know that almost everyone is going to be on point and at their best relative to their previous years. And from the looks of what UIL is passing (5 extra visual fundamental hours and I can only assume the revamped 5 judge system will see overwhelming support from directors), this activity is evolving to something no one would expected back in the 90s or 2000s, and with the increased strength of middle school music education, these groups are going to reach levels pretty unheard of, and were beginning to see the shift mainly in area B with Timber Creek and Keller Central, who in my opinion will become some of the new powerhouses in the state, and it will be entertaining to see if anyone from Area C will follow suit.

Definitely well as long as they dont have to stay at the stadium the whole time and get time to rest, thatll put them Sachse and Hebron at advantages going into finals

Yup, its officially 6 bands to state, a relief considering the difficulty of this area

Theres 32 groups pretty sure so 2 groups can get 2s, which considering this area only 1 could maybe get one realistically unless a group goes over time

My placement on the Wylies have varied so much the past few days with new recordings from them, Rock Hill, Boyd, and just opinions, its going to be such a tight range for scores this year

Its pretty wild how alike and yet how different the 2 areas are, from their skill levels being overall similar at face value, but how design between the 2 areas are noticeably different in execution, its pretty neat!

Keller has a ton of dirt in their closer as they just put it in recently, its clear they are going for the long run but their show to me isnt going to go well at UIL, plenty of standstill, slow drill, and dirt now with the closer, now I wouldnt place them below 7th assuming they recover the dirt but considering how little time they have, I personally think KCent and Southlake will beat them at area, states a different beast but regardless this isnt state, otherwise my top 4 are pretty solid in place

This is my last prediction before area, and Ill probably have something alike to the Roman army to justify two certain placements😅: 1. Hebron (full sweep) 2. Marcus 3. Prosper 4. Flower Mound 5. McKinney Boyd 6. Wylie/Rock Hill/Wylie East 7. Rock Hill/Wylie/Wylie East 8. Wylie East/Rock Hill/Wylie 9. McKinney High 10. Sachse 11. Lewisville 12. Plano East/Braswell/Rockwall/Plano Sr./Allen Now I know one of the big 3 not being 1-3 is pretty unheard of as of recently, but after Prospers performance Im quite confident that unless Flower Mound rewrote large chunks of their show, Prospers sound is extremely clean and exposes a lot of sections which they execute cleanly, which considering that Prosper would likely take captions on the musical standpoint, Flower Mounds main strength this year is clean visuals, which considering its judged in the minority Prosper could realistically place high enough musically for visuals to not matter. Boyd Im pretty confident in 5th, their show was built for UIL and mainly placed “low” (still right outside finals at Prosper) due to visuals which wasn't far behind schools with shows built for BOA, which to me a school that can design a show for UIL and still do fairly well at BOA means at UIL they are going to do great (Marcus is an extreme example), and the Wylies-Rock Hill cluster is going to be the closest this competition may see to a 3 way tie, I see them all nearly as equals in balance between difficulty and clean, I would place WEast the lowest just due to how they arent very clean (in relation to the top 8, not in general) while having the hardest show of the 3, and I can see even the 5-8 cluster being completely random. Then I see a gap, McKinney High has a BOA show but still has plenty for UIL to enjoy, same with Sachse, Lewisville is doing well, and the rest is just one big blood bath on top of another, larger bloodbath This could all be inaccurate come area, but its so exciting because this is by far in my opinion, the deepest area this year in terms of overall skill, there isnt a major dip to where you dont see a band as an area finalist until 16th+, and for state you could argue 9th-11th deserve it and would do well, had UIL implemented their new 5 judge system this year (WW, Brass, Perc, Vis individual and ensemble), this wouldnt feel like a scholastic organized UIL area contest but a BOA contest with a different judging system, I am so excited to see how this plays out!