CDLune VA

Yeah, my bad 😂

Best of luck to all of our 2025 UIL Texas Conference 5A State Marching Band Finalists: Aledo H.S. — Aledo, TX (Aledo I.S.D.) Argyle H.S. — Argyle, TX (Argyle I.S.D.) Burleson Centennial H.S. — Burleson, TX (Burleson I.S.D.) Cedar Park H.S. — Cedar Park, TX (Leander I.S.D.) Jack C. Hays H.S. — Buta, TX (Hays Consolidated I.S.D.) Leander H.S. — Leander, TX (Leander I.S.D.) Lebanon Trail H.S. — Frisco, TX (Frisco I.S.D.) Lone Star H.S. — Frisco, TX (Frisco I.S.D.) McCallum H.S. — Austin, TX (Austin I.S.D.) Richland H.S. — North Richland Hills, TX (Birdville I.S.D.) Rouse H.S. — Leander, TX (Leander I.S.D.) Wakeland H.S. — Frisco, TX (Frisco I.S.D.) IMPORTANT NOTE: Anyone and everyone who sees this, give every single one of these bands a standing ovation when they're coming on and off the field! They truly deserve it for all their hard work, and the more energy they get from the crowd, the more energy they'll channel into their performance!

No one needs to be a Midlothian glazer to know they were robbed real bad here. They've been doing phenomenally all season, and I thought they were a shoo-in for finals, but these judges didn't exactly play nice today. Along with Midlothian, Hendrickson, Friendswood, and Roma were hit real hard with wack scores. Even Aledo and Lone Star who made finals had some extremely questionable numbers.

And Midlothian.

Lone Star and Aledo in the bottom 6 is insane.

My updated predictions after October 4th: 1st: Cedar Ridge 2nd: Westlake 3rd: James Bowie 4th: McNeil 5th: Aledo 6th: L.D. Bell 7th: Westwood 8th: Timber Creek 9th: Wylie East 10th: Hendrickson 11th and 12th place for me are a complete wild card between these three: Hutto James E. Taylor Stephen F. Austin

My current predictions: 1st: Hebron / Flo-Mo 2nd: Flower Mound / Hebron 3rd: Coppell / Wakeland / Prosper 4th: Wakeland / Coppell / Prosper 5th: Prosper / Wakeland / Coppell 6th: Keller / Aledo / TC / Wax / LS 7th: Aledo / Keller / TC / Wax / LS 8th: Timber Creek / Aledo / Wax / Keller / LS 9th: Waxahachie / TC / LS / Aledo / Keller 10th: Lone Star / Wax / TC / Aledo / Keller 11th: L.D. Bell / Wylie East 12th: Wylie East / L.D. Bell A lot of interchangeably considering this is BOA we're talking about, and every competition, there's at least one placement that's a surprise to everyone. That placement could even end up being Wylie East or Sachse. While I'm going with my gut that Hebron will probably win again, I know Flo-Mo isn't even close to being out of the picture for first place. They tend to trade blows at this particular contest, especially when it comes to captions. Similar deal with Wakeland, Coppell, and Prosper. Those three are very interchangeable.

This is the strongest lineup of bands Waco has seen in a hot minute. Yes, there have been stronger individual bands that have participated in the past, such as Rouse and Cedar Park, but all the bands collectively make for a very competitive regional. I don't think we'll be seeing any major score gaps between the finalists this year. My predictions: 1. Cedar Ridge 2. James Bowie 3. Westlake 4. McNeil 5. Aledo 6. Timber Creek 7. L.D. Bell 8. Stephen F. Austin 9. Hendrickson 10. Wylie East 11. James E. Taylor 12. Hutto

Bedford is easily one of the toughest competitions every year in terms of how early into the season the bands are versus which groups are competing. Very hard to predict which band(s) will squeeze their way into finals when there are these eleven bands participating which, unless by a very miniscule chance something goes horribly wrong during their run, are pretty much locks: Prosper Coppell Aledo Timber Creek Flower Mound L.D. Bell Wakeland Hebron Lone Star Waxahachie Keller I think the only saving grace the other bands have is that Southlake Carroll isn't sticking around for finals due to homecoming. My bet is on either Sachse or Wylie East for being the runner up that will get bumped into finals.

First time I saw their show was at BOA Bedford (Mid-Cities Regional), and they do such a great job. Even though they didn’t cut it for top 12, they still got 1st in their division, so I got to see them again as finals exhibition, and THAT performance almost formed a lump in my throat. I really, really like their show for this year. The visuals are overall very clean, and the music they chose is so powerful and emotionally touching, especially their last couple movements. I bet they’ll do awesome at state.

I won’t be surprised if Cedar Park wins again, but I think it would be cool to see Rouse take 1st place, especially considering that they are more than capable of it. If I’m being completely honest, last year’s state results were quite the upset. Rouse had been one step ahead that entire season, and it looked like they had the state title right at their fingertips. 2023 is probably one of their strongest, if not their strongest year ever for marching band. I haven’t yet seen their show for this year, but I bet it’s fantastic. (Side note: To clarify, I’m not glazing my own band here. I didn’t go to Rouse, or any Leander school for that matter. I’m just a huge marching band nerd.)

I’ve got high hopes for the state bands. After looking at the schedule, I can safely say that state this season is going to be awesome. With the level of competition this year, there are many open windows for surprises. As of now, here are my predictions: 1. Cedar Park 2. Rouse 3. Wakeland 4. Leander 5. Aledo 6. Lone Star 7. Glenn 8. Hendrickson 9. Roma 10. Friendswood 11. Argyle 12. ??? Top 3 might be interchangeable, 4-6 are definitely interchangeable, and 7-12 are as flexible as a rubber band. Also, I just put Glenn on the list with the assumption that they’re good, since they’re a Leander school. I don’t actually know what they’re like since I’ve never seen them before. 12 is a question mark because there’s only 11 bands I can think of that are most likely to make finals. Slot 12 could be taken by anyone, honestly.

My predictions for state: Prediction #1 1. Rouse 2. Wakeland 3. Cedar Park 4. Leander 5. Aledo 6. Hendrickson 7. Forney 8. Burleson Centennial 9. Richland 10. Friendswood 11. Lone Star 12. McKinney North Prediction #2 1. Rouse 2. Cedar Park 3. Leander 4. Wakeland 5. Aledo 6. Forney 7. Burleson Centennial 8. Hendrickson 9. Richland 10. Lone Star 11. Friendswood 12. McKinney North

They’re a lock for finals, that’s for sure. They’re probably gonna win AAA as well. I actually have Rouse in 1st Place for my state predictions. They’ve been on top of most other Leander ISD schools since the beginning of the season, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they place somewhere within the top half of finalists.