LostChoirGuy

I think Keller Central has remained a steady contender in finals in this area for years, though not one of the very top bands. I think they are improving at about the same rate as other bands. Their placement in 2016 shouldn't necessarily mean that they are out for the count though. That being said, I think they will be hard pressed to find one of the state spots this year. They always play very well and have great (and in my opinion very intriguing) drill routines that if performed well can lead to success at UIL. Timber Creek is the one that I really know the least about here and I didn't get to see their DFW performance, so I haven't seen anything about them. I am hesitant to put them too high because there are other bands that I know have learned to do what it takes when it counts most from all of the experience. I do think that there is a good chance that they could make their first state appearance this year, though. I still think Waxahachie will be the biggest "surprise" of the day. Can you call them a surprise with the success they have been having lately?

Nice job, Dripping Springs!

I have only been to starbucks a small handful of times and it was because someone gave me a gift card. I got the peppermint hot chocolate, which was decent but nowhere near worth the price. I dont drink coffee either and as many of you have said, water is my beverage of choice.

Also Weiss and Camdenton will all be good. Ive heard an argument that San Antonio is really good but doesnt compare in the quality of competition for smaller classification bands like Grand Nats does. This year, I think the 2A will actually be a really good contest. I do agree that nearly all of the big hitters at San Antonio are 4A or 3A, but I must admit that I like watching the bigger bands more anyways.

Glad to still have you with us!

Now that is an event that I could support!

Of the ones on my list from DFW- LD Bell, Richland, and Keller are definitely closer to Fort Worth. Duncanville and Berkner are definitely closer to Dallas. Flower Mound, Marcus, Hebron, and Coppell are more in the middle. Geographically they are close to Fort Worth but they have easier access to Dallas than the other schools I mentioned (especially Coppell and Hebron).

This isnt about more schools at state. It is about which ones have more in finals. If we were talking about more at state, Houston would win that debate because they have historically had the most large division schools (and still do). But having more schools doesnt really matter much in this conversation if they weren't able to beat out the others for finals. It shows that the Austin and DFW areas have really dominated up top in the state competitions at the higher classifications.

DFW has a lot of 5A schools, too though many have moved up thus year. Remember that last year in finals I think 7 of the finalists came from North Texas.

I found the analysis of UIL medalists interesting, so I went through and looked at finalists bands during the same period. Here is what I found: 2006 DFW- 5 Austin- 2 San Antonio- 2 Houston- 1 2008 DFW- 6 Austin- 3 San Antonio- 1 Houston- 0 2010 DFW- 6 Austin- 2 San Antonio- 0 Houston- 2 2012 DFW- 5 Austin- 2 San Antonio- 2 Houston- 1 2014 DFW- 6 Austin- 1 San Antonio- 2 Houston- 1 2016 DFW- 6 Austin- 3 San Antonio- 1 Houston- 2 In every one of these years, the amount of Finalist bands from DFW matched or surpassed tthe amount of finalists from the rest of the state. Interestingly, during this period no bands from anywhere outside of the four big metros have made UIL finals. Here is a list of bands from each part of the state that have made finals at UIL in the highest division since 2006 and the number of times: DFW- Coppell (6), Marcus (6), Hebron (5), LD Bell (5), Duncanville (4), Berkner (3), Flower Mound (2), Keller (2), Richland (1) Austin- Bowie (5), Westlake (3), Akins (1), Cedar Park (1), Leander (1), Round Rock (1), Vandegrift (1) San Antonio- Reagan (4), Churchill (2), CTJ (2) Houston- The Woodlands (4), Langham Creek (1), North Shore (1), Spring (1) Edit: will look at next highest classification later.

I haven't seen either of DeSoto or South Grand Prairie this year, but both of those bands are actually pretty good. In most any other area we would be talking about them as potential finalists.

Both area B and D are crazy hard and difficult to predict. B goes a bit deeper with bubble groups that could qualify for state only because the bands that are on top in D are more dominant. Both areas will have bands that deserve to make state not advancing.

Unfortunately you have 6 area B bands in your predictions and only 5 can qualify Edit: it looks like you took out Waxahachie now, so I just wanted to edit this post.

I enjoyed your post, too. And the response!

My answer to your question for why Haltom was the one people were asking about.

To add another opinion- people are WAY overreacting on here. All someone said was that they weren't sure if all of these people putting Haltom first was because of bias and hype or if they actually have improved that much (a valid question considering the season they have when compared to the accomplishments of their competitors) and all of the Haltom people come out of the woodworks to attack everyone for "attacking" them. I must admit I have always loved Haltom's programs and I have several friends who went there but I am among the group of people getting annoyed by the Haltom fans on here. I know I probably am not much to talk because my opinions can be obnoxious, too. Do I think it is possible for Haltom to make it to state? Absolutely. They have shown they are capable of great things and their show looks like it has awesome potential. Do I have them in my own predictions? No.

I can certainly see them not getting first, but I have to say that aside from being more demanding, Keller has really stepped up their visual game in terms of performance. Both individual and ensemble visual scores at BOA DFW were impressive to me. I havent seen anything to do with their closer, but what I have seen so far looks as clean or cleaner than any other competitive band in area B.

Hmmm... I didn't know that. But state prelims does?

South Grand Prarie has had at least one other good result this season. They look like a solid band, though this area is too tough for them to have a likely shot at making finals. I put them in the relative quality range of Lake Ridge, Summit, Fossil Ridge, and DeSoto fighting for a top 20 spot at this area. Wow. Thats crazy to even think about how deep this area is.

Hmmm... Never seen Lovejoy's band before. Do they ever participate in BOA? I only know of them because of Cross Country.

Trinity 18th Richland 27th Honestly, I'm shocked by Richland's placement.

I am sad to not see either Texas group in finals.

I'm shook

Opinions based on what I have seen (now that I got to see Richland and Trinity perform). I still haven't seen Haltom, Mansfield, or Plano East. 1. Keller 2. LD Bell 3. Coppell 4. Waxahachie 5. Timber Creek 6. Prosper 7. Duncanville 8. Richland 9. Haltom 10. Keller Central 11. Plano East 12. Trinity 13. Martin 14. Mansfield 15. Carroll I could go on, but I think top 15 is probably good enough. That 5th/6th spot was really tough to decide. Timber Creek has looked very good this year but I also haven't seen either show for several weeks and it would not surprise me to see Prosper pass up Timber Creek in UIL.

Their ensemble sound WAS very good. I still have some qualms about DFW scoring, but I understand a bit about where a particular judge may have been coming from.