crunchycookie3

Bridgeland and Wakeland are not attending

7:15 p.m. – Class A: Commerce H.S., TX 7:30 p.m. – Lone Star H.S., TX 7:45 p.m. – Rockwall H.S., TX 8:00 p.m. – L.D. Bell H.S., TX 8:15 p.m. – Braswell H.S., TX 8:30 p.m. – Keller Central H.S., TX 8:45 p.m. – Mustang H.S., OK 9:00 p.m. – Southlake Carroll H.S., TX 9:15 p.m. – Bentonville H.S., AR 9:30 p.m. – Wakeland H.S., TX 9:45 p.m. – Wylie H.S., TX 10:00 p.m. – Prosper H.S., TX 10:15 p.m. – Marcus H.S., TX 10:30 p.m. – Class AA: Liberty H.S., TX Again floored by Lone Star and LD Bell bottom 6… but sometimes that’s how the cookie crumbles!

bottom 6: lone star, rockwall, ld bell, braswell, keller central, mustang top 6: southlake, bentonville, wakeland, wylie, prosper, marcus

To each, their own! I feel that Liberty is going to be well rewarded in vis—individual technique was soooooo good from where I sat.

Here’s what I’ve got after prelims: Marcus Wakeland LD Bell Lone Star Rock Hill Bentonville Jenks McKinney Wylie Carroll Prosper Liberty

I’m not sure that I agree that Wakeland was super clean visually, but they certainly sounded incredible. Definitely a cut above most other finalist-contenders in music. Pretty confident they’ll pick up another BOA medal tonight.

I’m thinking Rock Hill, Bell, and Bentonville will all perform late tonight. This block has been great!! Here’s what I have for this block: LD Bell Bentonville Rock Hill Lake Ridge Keller Central Whitesboro

Marcus was really good—though not as untouchable as I may have thought going into today. I still expect them to win, but it may not be a clean sweep. It seems Marcus definitely understands the effect of a great ballad, and this year is no exception!

I have to say that I agree—I really wasn’t all too taken by them from my vantage point on the couch through box 5… so take that with a grain of salt.

Splitting my time between prelims here and in Prosper on Box 5. LOVED Bowie!! I’d love to see them back in finals at San Antonio this year, and I think they could do it.

Allow me to clarify: I don’t think that groups are ditching BOA en masse. I also don’t think that you’d find a single program that feels great about the chances of being successful consistently in BOA—it’s SOOOO deep in TX. What I did want to highlight is that there are programs who have historically never competed in USBands now all electing to compete in USBands together. The fact that these top programs have all avoided USBands for so long, and are now choosing to enroll together, I think, is a big step for USBands and maybe signifies USBands becoming a bigger deal in TX. Personally, I think that not thinking this is a big deal is strange! Having such heavy hitters finally enroll in USBands and to do so all together, certainly does a lot for the circuit! Having another strong circuit gives sooo many programs yet another pathway to success. Regardless, I’ve probably let the point get away from me on this thread in particular! BOASA going to be a great, insanely competitive show!

Hebron, Flower Mound, Marcus, Coppell, Duncanville, Keller Central, Southlake Carroll, and Waxahachie are all enrolled in a USBands contest on Nov 6th. For most of these groups, this is their first ever USBands contest

Well, now I feel that we're dancing around the point which is these top schools are by and large the best sounding. There's no great way to keep name/bias out of marching band, but ultimately we have to trust that BOA or UIL has vetted judges appropriately who are willing to reward quality performances over name recognition. Recently, I've become more likely to agree that this isn't always the case. I have to wonder if that's partly why we're seeing a massive push from top groups in DFW to a USBands contest for the first time ever this season. I also think it's partly why judging ordinals from prelims across early season TX BOAs are quite scattered this year. I think in TX we have become so deep in terms of competition that USBands is almost a saving grace, providing yet another circuit for groups to be successful in. My hope is that groups stop placing all their hope in being successful in BOA and UIL and greatly diversify their fall schedules going forward. Truly, the best groups should be dominant across the board, so I'd love to see a group try to pull off a win in all three.

Having seen these groups, I think it's fair to say that LD Bell just has a really difficult show--no one else here is really jazz running while playing in high school LOL. I wouldn't be too concerned about the results of one contest, especially one that left Forney out of finals. Regardless of results, enjoy this season! It's a great show and it may just need to clean up before it's properly rewarded. I think Bell still has a decent shot at medaling here.

Woah-- really, really surprised by Bell, Keller, and Lone Star in bottom half. Congratulations to all the schools who made finals! Really cannot make sense of no Forney here

Their vis was absolutely incredible. I'm sooo worried about finals results--It's gonna be a crazy tight race for those 12 spots.

Waxahachie went to the factory that makes you red

Bravo Rock Hill! What a pretty show and such a crazy tidbit to have made every BOA regional finals they have attended--and I'm feeling pretty good that they'll keep up that streak today. Well done!

Friendswood sounds and looks fantastic! For a personal note, I think this show may be a bit too cutesy for what "atomic" brings to my mind. The kids look like they're having so much fun though!

I think tomorrow will give us the best prelims and finals of a BOA regional ever! Having seen these shows, I have no idea how it could shake out. Lots of bands have things to say here: Forney and Lone Star are looking to return to finals after missing last year. Keller is looking for early season success after the slow start of last year. Bell is looking for their first medal at this contest in a decade; Coppell is looking for their first medal at this contest ever! Aledo is on FIRE, but so is Wakeland! Waxahachie's show about a factory is somehow beautiful? Flower Mound is looking for their first regional win in 2 years, but Hebron is looking to threepeat! Timber Creek is looking for a good starting spot toward their medal venture in STL, and Argyle is looking for a good starting spot toward their finals venture at Grand Nats! Berkner would return to finals at this competition for the first time in 10 years, piggy-backing off their success from making state last year, and Keller Central is looking to prove they're still in the conversation! Rock Hill's woodwinds are stunning. Carroll is sooo fun this year! Azle would continue their success from BOA Prosper last year. And that's 17 bands--how could you choose 5 to miss finals??

Wow--this was so in depth! Thank you so much for sharing. I think Saturday proved that Katy ISD is no longer dominated entirely by 7L. Tompkins, Jordan, and Cinco Ranch all looked incredible in prelims. In fact, I had all three in finals based on their prelims runs. It will be interesting to see if Jordan or Cinco Ranch could make it to state this year and snap 7L's state appearance streak. To me, 3rd place is wide open for whoever wants it most. My gut says Jordan--that prelims run on Saturday was no joke! Glad to see other people were shocked by their omission in finals.

I’m really hoping we’ll see 10 in finals with 4 state spots. It’s wild that we’re discussing this when there were 40 bands at area and 12 in finals before this realignment! Since there are 23 bands in 6A B, it would take 4 groups not making area to force finals down to 7 and 3 spots to state. So far, it looks like Lamar and Houston may not get 1s, so it will come down to Cedar Hill, Grand Prairie, and Bowie to advance. What a nailbiter!

Personally, I have yet to get the GE hype of Pearland’s show. It’s ambitious musically, but I find the vis—particularly vis effect—a bit lacking. I think this show will do exceptionally well at state (a lock for finals, even), but may not be the dominance monster people are predicting for BOA San Antonio. It’s nothing against the kids, they’re absolutely killing it in the performance captions. Maybe it’s the recycled Cartwright tropes that make this show feel stale in visual design, especially compared to Cy-Fair and Bridgeland. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m more partial to the bright colors and field design of last year. I could be way off, though! And maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about as someone who is not an effect judge. Regardless, they very well could pick up a medal and/or music caption here Saturday. I sense a tight race between Cy-Fair, Bridgeland, and Pearland for second place, though I’m giving the edge to Cy-Fair on the uniqueness of their show pacing, sometimes making me feel like I’m watching a completely through-composed indoor show. I know there’s gripe about their ensemble playing time, but no one is pacing their show with such finesse this season. For the week of, here’s what I’m thinking: 1. Reagan 2. Cy-Fair 3. Bridgeland 4. Pearland 5. Clear Brook 6. Dickinson 7. Dawson (criminally underranked on Saturday) 8. CTJ 9. Clear Brook 10. Foster 11. Friendswood 12. Seven Lakes Can’t wait to eat crow when they announce Pearland as 4A 1st place in prelims though

7:30 p.m. – Dawson H.S., TX 7:45 p.m. – North Shore Senior H.S., TX 8:00 p.m. – Friendswood H.S., TX 8:15 p.m. – Klein Oak H.S., TX 8:30 p.m. – Foster H.S., TX 8:45 p.m. – Cinco Ranch H.S., TX 9:00 p.m. – Tomball Memorial H.S., TX 9:15 p.m. – Clear Brook H.S., TX 9:30 p.m. – College Park H.S., TX 9:45 p.m. – Cy-Fair H.S., TX 10:00 p.m. – Stephen F. Austin H.S., TX 10:15 p.m. – The Woodlands H.S., TX 10:30 p.m. – In Exhibition: Freeman H.S., TX

MEMORIAL TOP HALF ?!?