TrenBS

I will say prop wise its purely budgetary, McKinney North is generally less well off than Boyd and even High, and that prop was one they made in 2022 that they are kinda forced to use until they can have enough people to properly fund for more, so unless they still ONLY have that prop by 2026, they should definitely be cut some slack on the prop scene Music wise they do need some variation, the intro kinda feels like a mashup between the last 2 jazz shows in a way, and the ballad feels like 2023 2.0, which isn’t inherently bad, but as a viewer Id like to see more distinction between the shows musically since this year is gonna cause some identity fazing between the past few years Although Im extremely happy aboutt their recruitment, they are a much bigger size WITH an alternate block, which they havent had in a long time

If its not on youtube it was likely a leak, which for LISD is gonna be hard to come by unless you know people lol

Yes, unless I think 2 bands get a second division, which realistically only the newly 6A groups (Princeton, and the new Denton school) are in danger of receiving, but I find that scenario very unlikely 4 bands to state is the current situation, unfortunately

Bad news: my videos just refuse to send to my google photos and both of them are multiple gigabytes, so I cant reasonably send them Good news: the guy next to me had a MUCH better setup and posted them on youtube, so all the McKinney bands up to the 4-5 minute mark are now posted lol https://youtu.be/NuJUXxdhkQA?feature=shared

I saw Emerson from a few days ago, legitimately didnt notice the colors and thought I was watching LT, lol. They have a very strong chance at area I feel like personally

Just saw McKinney North, if anyone would like the recording dm me, I honestly really like the show since it feels like a natural evolution from the past 2 years, here's my prediction having heard a decent chunk of the area: 1. Wakeland (sweep) 2. Lone Star 3. McKinney North 4. Lebanon Trail/Emerson 5. Emerson/Lebanon Trail 6. Argyle 7. The Colony 8. Walnut Grove 9. Centennial 10. Anna

Id like to see it if that is all good

And very loud as well, Lone Star is gonna perform very well at BOA Prosper for sure, honestly theyll be competitive in the 6-9 range which is extremely solid given the depth we have there

I’ll have one of McKinney North next Wednesday, Ill send in DMs like the Lone Star guy lol

While I can respect the logic of having more geographical representation, the way it has been implemented has come to the detriment of many bands in the affected areas (primarily B, C, and J), where now we see overall less representation across multiple districts and the areas, where realistically, theres only a single state slot in area J that can be claimed other than the big 3 for LISD being constant top 10 at the SMBC, and the same applies to area B with only Keller Central and maybe another group having the realistic ability to counter the Coppell, L.D. Bell, Timber Creek, and Keller, which in fact, is all the state slots comprised of 2-3 state finalists, which leaves area C who are the only area who benefits in terms of more diversity and healthy amounts of competition in the finalists, as besides Forney and Waxahachie the last 2 slots could go to essentially anyone. The current competition at the DFW area (which is the only area really affected by this change in 6A) is unhealthy, we are forcing 4-8 state qualifier worthy programs PER area to compete for 1 (or less haha) slots for the sake of geographical diversity, but weve now created 2 district monopoly areas where only 1 program that isnt LISD and maybe even no other programs could realistically beat the current top 4 at area B can be represented at the SMBC besides MAYBE a complete staff or zoning change, and that is a problem. If they are going to remove slots from these already competitive areas to introduce another area, they should have looked at the process as a whole and changed it to accommodate the creation of a brand new area in the most populated area of DFW, I dont like what UIL is encouraging in area B and J with the hyper competitiveness of a single slot, the overall quality of bands from top to bottom has dramatically increased since the 90s and 2000s, and the SMBC should reflect the changes in environment we have been experiencing the past 20 years. Also, just gonna say Im not ranting/yelling at you lmao, you are explaining the thought process UIL was making and I respect you for explaining it as well as you did. I have a fundamental issue with the logic and how it was executed and Ill argue against it all day, but Im not going to shoot the messenger lol

Thats crazy they took it down, but Im glad I got a chance to look at it lol. The show honestly feels like a pretty decent step down in difficulty overall, but considering the dirt they had last year its for the best. Visually it already looks so much better and will be a UIL beast for sure, but Vandegrift will most likely beat them at BOA and the SMBC, unless the rest of the show is up to Vandegrift difficulty with cleaner everything

Ill be the 3rd on that one lol

I feel the same way, it feels kind of crappy to leave out like, 2 bands at a competition for the sake of a traditional finals setup, having all bands perform twice for their families and spectators just feels better considering how small the competition is, either that or only take 10 bands if they are going to have a finals Quick prediction, I dont know how this competition leans being BOA or UIL, so Im absolutely wrong: 1. Marcus 2. Wakeland 3. Coppell 4. Forney 5. Timber Creek 6. Waxahachie 7. McKinney North 8. Keller Central 9. Haltom 10. Aledo 11. Azle 12. Martin 13. Eaton 14. Krum

99% I wouldn't add Bowie or Trinity until we get an area schedule, the individual districts switching to other regions is more common on the lower As but is less common in 6A, and I don't see why they would add Bowie/Trinity to this area at this point in the season It's most likely a typo since there isn't anything listed on the TMEA alignment site that says this would be the area Bowie and Trinity participate in For fun though I'll make a prediction based on the bands I've heard and including the 2 area B schools lol: 1. Marcus 2. Hebron 3. Flower Mound 4. Prosper [TIE] (no particular order since both would advance regardless) 5. Boyd [TIE] 6. Wylie East 7. Wylie 8. McKinney High 9. Trinity 10. Rock Hill 11/15: Little Elm, Plano West/East/Sr., Braswell

Bowie and Trinity are area B, so they dont count, I think theres a glitch in your sheet or something lmao

Oh absolutely, anything above like 160 marching is nothing to sneeze at much less 360, and frankly Id love to see the visual demand of a 200 member Vandegrift as even with their large numbers is already insane, it may even do them better come their BOA Nationals year visually🤷‍♂️

My prediction, which to be clear Im not familiar below the top 7 so Im basing 8-10 on previous years and other predictions lmao: 1. Wakeland 2. McKinney North (Music over Lone Star) 3. Lone Star (Visuals over North) 4. Lebanon Trail 5. Argyle 6. The Colony 7. Walnut Grove 8. Love Joy 9. Centennial 10. Anna

I’ll speak for McKinney/Boyd and frankly Lone Star in that early draw times typically arent an issue, Boyd at least has been consistently having early call times since 2018 even for later performances for these scenarios, heck we were prepared for a 3AM call time for BOA Katy in 2021 before the directors decided against it purely because we would get home around 3AM, the call time wasnt seen as a problem lol Even last year when Boyd had the earliest call time at Area C where they performed at 8:15 on a 50 minute drive, they placed exactly where they ended up in finals, so 30 extra minutes for performance on a 25-30 minute drive is frankly pretty nice. McKinney, Prosper, and Frisco schools are very strong on consistency, so I doubt these schools with the proximity of Prosper stadium will see MUCH reduction of a score, if at all. Personally I still see Prosper in the top 6 unless their judging stays random for them in general, and while Boyd could place from 8-15, I dont think the performance time is gonna heavily affect their score and wherever they place/score is what they will deserve, along with McKinney High, North, Lone Star, etc. TL;DR, I have confidence in MISD, PISD, and FISDs consistency and I doubt these draw times will determine anything more than +-1 placement these groups, I can’t speak for any other districts of course but these Im confident in. Edit: MISD also starts at 7:30 across the district, so as long as the call time isnt before 5:30, most band members are already on schedule for these call times because of school lol

Different areas have different places they put them (Area Js is somewhere on the region 20 site), but its the draw order where each band is randomly assigned a number for the area order

Their content is never the issue, but the level of execution typically can cause inconsistent scoring for them, specifically their visuals which at Bedford was 2 points below their music scores, and overall placed below Southlake in a majority of the captions who placed below North and Forney at 11th, so unless they take a major step up Id place them around the 8-14 range depending on the bands around them Definitely not throwing shade since their shows are generally great and they perform so well, but this competition is so brutal that the 7-17 bubble feels fairly interchangeable, it just depends on who is better and who is not which makes predictions for this competition fun lol

Im honestly kind of shocked they didn't add more state slots to these areas or make the amount of groups advancing to area create more slots for 6A (4 per slot would be one idea) due to the increased quality of many of these bands and areas. 3 slots would remain for A, 4 slots would go to G, 5 slots to B, C, H, and J, 6 to D, E, and F, and area I would most likely have 6-7. Looking at the rosters, the only 2 areas that would have a feeling of too much slot inflation would maybe be I and E, but at the same time its not a big deal when considering that area B and J would be dropping (taking Timber Creek and Prosper as the examples for taking their 4th slots) SLC, Haltom, Keller Central, Wylie, Wylie East, McKinney Boyd, and my personal dark horses being Lake Ridge and McKinney High, and telling me these bands dont deserve to make state while the justification for these changes being to “allow for more even state qualifier representation across the state” is pretty silly to me. Heres a prediction so that this isnt merely a rant post lol: 1. Keller 2. Coppell 3. L.D. Bell 4. Timber Creek 5. Keller Central 6. Southlake Carroll 7. Haltom 8. Lake Ridge 9. Trinity 10. Boswell

UIL provide opportunities to state level bands challenge: Impossible

Updated 8/20 (11): Heritage H.S. (TX) Highland Park H.S. (TX) Independence H.S. (TX) Lewisville H.S. (TX)* Melissa H.S. (TX) Memorial H.S. (TX) Plano East H.S. (TX) Plano West H.S. (TX) Plano Sr. H.S. (TX) Prosper H.S. (TX)* Walnut Grove H.S. (TX)* *Asterics are ambiguous with previous attendance/calendar, correct if you have more information

Will throw out a prediction, although Im not 100% on this areas bands: 1. Waxahachie 2. Forney 3. Duncanville 4. Sachse 5. Berkner 6. Rockwall 7. Lake Highlands 8. J.J. Pearce 9. Richardson 10. Royce City

I wish I knew more about the bands outside of the typical finalists, I would frankly love to see some of these schools be competitive for area finals or state at some point, Ive got my eye personally on Little Elm and Plano Sr. right now