Efrin

That is correct. New rule this year.

Not encouraging…

That's a very good explanation that is consistent with what I've always heard/understood. Lake Highlands is a good example of this. They tend to score much better under UIL judging (an Area B finalist each of the past three years) than BOA.

For what it's worth (perhaps not much), Lake Highlands placed just above Berkner at BOA Dallas three weeks ago and has placed above Pearce & Richardson at Area C for the past three years. I expect them to be in the mix next Saturday, probably clustered with Berkner and Pearce in the 5th-8th range. Though they are smaller than the top 6A bands in this area and might not have the kind of high-end "GE" show that grabs a lot of attention, they do so many of the little things that judges care about - musically and visually. And that drumline is CLEAN.

Schedule is posted https://static1.squarespace.com/static/636aedbbb0c8cb22306b1318/t/671aeda3f3c7c92183b72f8b/1729818019558/2024+Area+C+Schedule+-+6A.pdf

Prediction: 1. Waxahachie 2. Forney I see 6 bands as the strongest contenders for the other 2 tickets to San Antonio: Duncanville, Rockwall, Sachse, Berkner, Pearce, Lake Highlands. Could easily be any 2 of those! Good luck to all of the bands!

Correct. And this is a perfect example of how the ordinal scoring system can (intentionally) produce a different champion than a "highest total" scoring system. Hebron had the higher total score (6,883 vs. 6,858) but 5 of the 7 judges ranked Vandegrift higher. Pretty sure UIL would tell you that this is a feature, not a bug.

https://www.uiltexas.org/files/music/Area:State_Adjudication_Sheets.pdf

This post aged well. 😊

They were great! Very clean, controlled run. Much better than their region performance. Just think their show lacks the demand and energy of the bands they’re competing against. Even so, I was (slightly) surprised they did not make finals.

So many excellent bands in Area B! My sleeper pick for Area Finals this year is Lake Highlands. Reagan Brumley (former Director of Bands at Highland Park, 2011-2020) is now in his 2nd year at LH. He and his excellent staff are building a great program with some super-dedicated students. LH was 9th in Area B prelims last year. I was able to see them perform a couple weeks ago at the Midlothian contest. So impressive. They seemed to be well ahead of where they were at the same time last year - and with a more demanding book. Will be interesting to see where they finish at the Duncanville invitational.

In 2008, Rowlett was 1st in Area C prelims and yet finished 4th in finals (which unfortunately meant that they were the 1st Alternate). So yes, rankings can and do change from prelims to finals. Sometimes dramatically. But if your "sometimes bands don't give it their all" in prelims theory is valid (maybe, maybe not), then wouldn't that have to apply to Rowlett as well? Regardless, all 4 of those Area C bands are truly excellent. One other thought... Area C had exactly 20 5A bands competing this year. Had their been one less, Coppell would not have advanced. Weird.