LHSax

Definitely have lots of respect for Vandy, I wouldn’t say any of their recent shows have been favorites for me, even though they all have great standout moments. Their style isn’t really my cup of tea, but they do deserve the accolades they receive, they’re very much a fantastic all-around program that hasn’t really buckled or wavered in their ascension. They’ve already got a GN title and 2 6A titles now so they’re continuing to build their resume even further! For all of LISD South, those feeder programs they have are going crazy, I think Vista’s Feeder won Middle School honor band this year iirc with Cedar Park’s right behind them so there’s plenty of evidence right there. The growth of their bands isn’t stopping anytime soon and there’s plenty more to come. 
For LISD North I did find it weird that OP says that they are just immediately better and more proficient musically than LISD South, like you said. I think it’s apples to oranges in the styles that the schools bring. Hebron’s electric, versatile wind players carry the musical demand, could listen to their woodwinds and high brass all day, the latter especially are remarkable and exceptional in the activity the last few years. They are usually my favorite to listen to year in and year out, jury’s out this year though, not my favorite program put together by them.
Flower Mound is quite contemporary and imo fairly “blocky” and LOUD in the way they go about ensemble sound, more so diversifying their sound output with their strengths in individual players(notably their woodwind soloists, pretty fantastic every year without question). I think this year is probably the best ensemble sound they’ve had in years, I definitely feel that’s been a weak spot for them as of recent and definitely hasn’t been on the level of the other two LISD North bands and several notable LISD south bands.
Marcus is traditionally known for being *traditional* and safe musically, but still being the most safe and controlled group in the whole state pretty much every year.  They definitely mixed it up a bit with much more saucy, risky repertoire this year and it’s paid so much dividends for them! You can always count on them for very creative percussion features, moments that are sparsely produced here in Texas lately, which is always appreciated. 
For LISD South: 
As for Vandy, like I said I very much respect them, they always sound great. I feel like their sound profile doesn’t change much from year-to-year in that they are very explosive, but also one of the best groups in the state when it comes to dynamic contrast and intricate detailed phrasing. Percussion is always laying it down, one of the best units in the state. I feel that when I listen to videos of them though they kinda sound like an amalgamation of *generic drum corps* lite. It’s so hard to put my finger as to why that is, it sounds like hating, but that’s really all I can do when I haven’t been able to see them live in years. They have a distinct sound but it also kinda feels a bit familiar!
Vista, you feel there’s an inviting openness to their sound, very pure, precise and controlled but can also have a flair for the dramatic. They’re kinda like Crown Jr. if you wanna look at them that way, I love their trajectory of where they’re going, would definitely love to see their numbers increase some too I forget how big exactly they are but iirc they’re one of the smaller big boys in the state!
Cedar Park, just as explosive sounding as the other two, but also probably a bit grittier, darker sounding as well. The percussion is always quite spectacular, not gonna talk about every LISD south band, just one more after this, but they’re mighty, fantastic feeder programs are gonna continue this in the future. But they are very much a fantastic all-around program, I think maybe being a bit too UIL-centric probably hinders them a bit in regards to a bit more of an emotional congruity with their show structure, hard to explain, but oftentimes it’s just hard to latch on to their shows completely. The last band I’m gonna talk about doesn’t have this issue for me…
 
Now Rouse…they are elevating and continue to elevate for a reason, they are one of the groups you want to listen to all day every day if you could, quickly becoming an emulator for a more classical, expressive sound, coming from their beginnings when they were small but still mighty!! They are controlled, explosive, colorful, light, and effortless. Quickly becoming the total package musically, and definitely leaning into more my cup of tea of having that emotional force of your program really coming through with their musical performance. They are about to unseat Cedar Park for the 5A crown, that’s hard to do, and they’re about to! That’s how good this band is becoming. Last I’ve heard from some people on here is their school growth is still continuing, very exciting to see where they go in the future. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite groups to listen to!!
My last thing to add is to simply say that both LISD’s have great bands that have plenty to praise about, to say any of them are doing easy things would be pretty silly. If I were to rank the bands I talked about here, *purely* from personal preference here’s where mine would be currently!
1. Hebron
2. Rouse
3. Marcus
4. Vista Ridge
5. Vandy
6. Cedar Park
7. Flower Mound
 

It's so weird seeing the prop argument from this perspective considering Marcus (the band that "should wipe the floor") in its heyday (late 2000's, early 2010's) was notoriously known for their extravagant props, which often sparked debate on here along the lines of "Marcus is only winning because of their huge prop budget" (this was not the case). Seeing the opposite argument of "Vandy shouldn't win" due to lack of props is bizarre to say the least. 

It's so weird seeing the prop argument from this perspective considering Marcus (the band that "should wipe the floor") in its heyday (late 2000's, early 2010's) was notoriously known for their extravagant props, which often sparked debate on here along the lines of "Marcus is only winning because of their huge prop budget" (this was not the case). Seeing the opposite argument of "Vandy shouldn't win" due to lack of props is bizarre to say the least. 

It's so weird seeing the prop argument from this perspective considering Marcus (the band that "should wipe the floor") in its heyday (late 2000's, early 2010's) was notoriously known for their extravagant props, which often sparked debate on here along the lines of "Marcus is only winning because of their huge prop budget" (this was not the case). Seeing the opposite argument of "Vandy shouldn't win" due to lack of props is bizarre to say the least. 

It's so weird seeing the prop argument from this perspective considering Marcus (the band that "should wipe the floor") in its heyday (late 2000's, early 2010's) was notoriously known for their extravagant props, which often sparked debate on here along the lines of "Marcus is only winning because of their huge prop budget" (this was not the case). Seeing the opposite argument of "Vandy shouldn't win" due to lack of props is bizarre to say the least. 

It's so weird seeing the prop argument from this perspective considering Marcus (the band that "should wipe the floor") in its heyday (late 2000's, early 2010's) was notoriously known for their extravagant props, which often sparked debate on here along the lines of "Marcus is only winning because of their huge prop budget" (this was not the case). Seeing the opposite argument of "Vandy shouldn't win" due to lack of props is bizarre to say the least. 

It's so weird seeing the prop argument from this perspective considering Marcus (the band that "should wipe the floor") in its heyday (late 2000's, early 2010's) was notoriously known for their extravagant props, which often sparked debate on here along the lines of "Marcus is only winning because of their huge prop budget" (this was not the case). Seeing the opposite argument of "Vandy shouldn't win" due to lack of props is bizarre to say the least. 

The oracle hath returned! Oh great oracle, who will be receiving penalties this year? 

I’m totally on board the CP hype train, it’s exciting to see them get back to their previous level of success after some rough years. It’s impressive to me that while many bands have taken a hit during Covid, CP seems to somehow have gotten BIGGER. I’ve been cautiously optimistic each of the last few years about CP after seeing some early videos, but the shows never quite got to the performance level that they appear to be getting to this year, that we are used to out of previous Cedar Park iterations. I don’t know if this will go down as one of my favorite CP shows (it’s got a bit too many musical ideas for me), but I’m excited that they’re taking on a more ambitious show and very much succeeding.
 
I don’t quite have them in the medal hunt (the top of the field is just too stacked), and the statement “top placing band in LISD” is pretty bold considering Vandy is likely the best band in the country at the moment, but I do have them landing in the top half at the moment if they can hold off their LISD rivals, and that will be a huge accomplishment after a few years of sub-par appearances.

For Reference:
http://www.uiltexas.org/files/music/6A_Area_H.pdf
And thank goodness it happened, since Leander wound up 5th at state, while Westlake ended up 21st oddly enough. 

You forget this is the TXBands forum where Texas bias is more allowed than other places ?
I'm a bit more confident in Texas taking at least 2 medals. I think this Texas group is stronger than the 2019 group that took 2 medals, and I'm not convinced Avon/Carmel's shows are strong enough to hold this group off the podium. BA is obviously the wild card, need to see a better video of that show before placing it. 
Musically, ABC is gonna have a tough time breaking the top 3. And then I think visually this is probably some of the more impressive visual packages Texas has sent recently...I think Reagan's visual design is and has been extremely impactful, FM is pretty close behind (and is a GE monster), and the Woodlands is bringing a guard that (while maybe not Avon level yet) is truly elite. I think Vandy and Hebron kind of popped the visual bubble in 2019, taking 2nd and 3rd in visual, with relatively tame visual packages. The difference with this years groups is that I think they have the VGE to backup competitive visual scores. And i haven't even mentioned CTJ and Marcus yet...
Consider me optimistic that this will be a big year for TX bands.

You forget this is the TXBands forum where Texas bias is more allowed than other places ?
I'm a bit more confident in Texas taking at least 2 medals. I think this Texas group is stronger than the 2019 group that took 2 medals, and I'm not convinced Avon/Carmel's shows are strong enough to hold this group off the podium. BA is obviously the wild card, need to see a better video of that show before placing it. 
Musically, ABC is gonna have a tough time breaking the top 3. And then I think visually this is probably some of the more impressive visual packages Texas has sent recently...I think Reagan's visual design is and has been extremely impactful, FM is pretty close behind (and is a GE monster), and the Woodlands is bringing a guard that (while maybe not Avon level yet) is truly elite. I think Vandy and Hebron kind of popped the visual bubble in 2019, taking 2nd and 3rd in visual, with relatively tame visual packages. The difference with this years groups is that I think they have the VGE to backup competitive visual scores. And i haven't even mentioned CTJ and Marcus yet...
Consider me optimistic that this will be a big year for TX bands.

I guarantee the "they always find a way to make it" crowd is exclusive to those of us band fan onlookers who have watched it happen time and time again over the last decade, and has nothing to do with the mentality of the band and staff itself...

See above

Oh I have a lot of confidence in VR's trajectory, I just know they've become notoriously good at peaking at their final performance of the year over the last few years.
And I'll second Cedar Park from what little I've seen...I think they'll show up well here and will hopefully push for a return to SA finals. 

Oh I have a lot of confidence in VR's trajectory, I just know they've become notoriously good at peaking at their final performance of the year over the last few years.
And I'll second Cedar Park from what little I've seen...I think they'll show up well here and will hopefully push for a return to SA finals. 

While I should know better than predicting against a LeanderMomma vote of confidence in Vista after the famous 2018 State pick, Vista has historically been a late bloomer, and in a year in which they're trying to peak even a week later than typical, I could once again see them in 4th of the big 4 (and still have zero doubt they'll get to the high aspirations they set for themselves by the time Indy rolls around)
Of course all predictions for this are even more history-based than usual, since bands have been even more close to the chest of their plans than the 2000's when videos were super hard to come by. So historically speaking, I lean Vandy here, as I think their early season cleanliness will once again be hard to beat, especially in a year where I expect many bands to be a bit rocky coming out of the gate after 2020's semi-season. But of course CTJ could come out hot after benefiting from being the one group in the area that marched a competitive show last year. And then there's Leander, who I have honestly uncharacteristically heard little to nothing about this preseason...what do they have brewing?
I'm glad they expanded finals to 12, as this contest especially really needed it. I think adding a band to the top half split adds some intrigue and there have always been more than 10 finalist-worthy bands at this regional. 

While I should know better than predicting against a LeanderMomma vote of confidence in Vista after the famous 2018 State pick, Vista has historically been a late bloomer, and in a year in which they're trying to peak even a week later than typical, I could once again see them in 4th of the big 4 (and still have zero doubt they'll get to the high aspirations they set for themselves by the time Indy rolls around)
Of course all predictions for this are even more history-based than usual, since bands have been even more close to the chest of their plans than the 2000's when videos were super hard to come by. So historically speaking, I lean Vandy here, as I think their early season cleanliness will once again be hard to beat, especially in a year where I expect many bands to be a bit rocky coming out of the gate after 2020's semi-season. But of course CTJ could come out hot after benefiting from being the one group in the area that marched a competitive show last year. And then there's Leander, who I have honestly uncharacteristically heard little to nothing about this preseason...what do they have brewing?
I'm glad they expanded finals to 12, as this contest especially really needed it. I think adding a band to the top half split adds some intrigue and there have always been more than 10 finalist-worthy bands at this regional. 

And of course we will be sending every UIL top level state champ since 2004...It's hard to imagine a stronger contingency of Texas bands  (at least one that doesn't include the defending grand national champ) and it's even wilder that they will be up against one of the better lineups that the rest of the country has to offer. This will definitely at least partially make up for the lack of true season last year.

And of course we will be sending every UIL top level state champ since 2004...It's hard to imagine a stronger contingency of Texas bands  (at least one that doesn't include the defending grand national champ) and it's even wilder that they will be up against one of the better lineups that the rest of the country has to offer. This will definitely at least partially make up for the lack of true season last year.

And of course we will be sending every UIL top level state champ since 2004...It's hard to imagine a stronger contingency of Texas bands  (at least one that doesn't include the defending grand national champ) and it's even wilder that they will be up against one of the better lineups that the rest of the country has to offer. This will definitely at least partially make up for the lack of true season last year.

And of course we will be sending every UIL top level state champ since 2004...It's hard to imagine a stronger contingency of Texas bands  (at least one that doesn't include the defending grand national champ) and it's even wilder that they will be up against one of the better lineups that the rest of the country has to offer. This will definitely at least partially make up for the lack of true season last year.

And then of course you have Hebron 13....It still baffles me that Hebron doesn't have an BOASA/UIL State/Grand national title...They should have all 3 in my opinion.