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What are some of your biggest moments or surprises from the 6A SMC? A few of mine: Prosper and Dripping Springs with their first 6A Finals appearances. Vandy getting hit with an actual train and still medaling! MG Johnson finishing a historic season with their first SMC appearance. Keller missing finals for the first time since 2012, and tying their lowest ever prelims rank. Hebron drums 😳 vs. Hebron everything else 🤯 Woodlands guard 😍

It was also an opportunity to show that they belonged. Vista and TW being so close together score-wise and Keller being so far away is a clear message from the panel that one of these things is not like the others. Even then, their visual scores had them solidly in finals. It was their music scores across the board that were what kept them out of finals.

Just my take: Bands I think are locks, not withstanding some kind of disaster or really bad judging (12) Vista Ridge, FloMo, Hebron, Marcus, Vandy, Pearland, Woodlands, Bridgeland, Coppell, Reagan, Cedar Ridge, Dripping Springs Bands competing for the final two spots (13) MG Johnson, Waxahachie, LD Bell, Prosper, Seven Lakes, Keller, CT Johnson, Dawson, Westlake, North Shore, Timber Creek, Cy Woods That's 25 really, really good bands. Being strong in every caption is going to be so important here. Unlike Area, the WW, Brass, & Percussion sheets are strictly that caption. At Area music ensemble was a part of each of those sheets, so it wasn't true caption judging. Effect is its own sheet here, as is Individual Visual. With this show being as tight as it is, a single weak caption can be the difference between being in finals or not.

Really tough draw for Keller, who has been in finals every year since the creation of class 6A (not counting Covid).

Does anyone have a photo of the detailed finals breakdown like the one posted from prelims?

Too early to predict, but Prosper, Waxahachie, CTJ, Dawson, Dripping Springs, Westlake, and Cedar Ridge would like a word. One thing is for sure, this may be the hardest year to make 6A Finals in a long time.

The new Area Judging System could really shake things up in Area B. Instead of one broad music score, each of the three judges has their own caption: woodwinds, brass, and percussion. On the visual side, captions are still combined, but a full third of the score now leans toward effect. That’s a big change for programs with standout strengths. Take Boswell: their percussion has always been top-tier, but in the old system that could get buried. Now percussion alone counts for 20% of the score. Coppell is still the clear front-runner, but here’s where it gets interesting: Timber Creek – Strong woodwinds and percussion, plus an improving design team that should get more credit on the visual side. Southlake Carroll – Excellent percussion, usually mid-pack in music, but boosted by strong soloists and a solid color guard. With Grand Nationals on their schedule, they could get a bump in visual captions. LD Bell vs. Keller – A matchup that’s usually leaned Keller’s way, but the new sheets might change that. Bell usually excels in percussion, and their music captions often track with the strength of their show design. With the Macy’s Parade on their calendar this year, it’ll be interesting to see how they balance preparation. Early reports say they’re off to a strong start. They’re almost always strong visually, and with a consistently solid color guard, they can pick up extra effect points that make a real difference. Keller is an interesting case. Traditionally, they’ve been very strong in music and visual performance, but percussion and color guard look vulnerable this year. Results from the HEB Drumline Contest suggest Keller could finish as low as 8th–10th in percussion, which means they’ll need to post very high scores in woodwinds and brass to stay competitive. The brass section isn’t as dominant as in past years, though the woodwinds are improving and still feature standout soloists. With design and color guard now weighing more heavily, captions that used to be absorbed into general sheets may now expose those weaknesses. We’ll see how it plays out once these groups hit the field, but the new sheets should make for some interesting results

It's true that Keller was 2 away from finals, but their performance captions were by far their worst ones, with their GE captions higher. That's a total reversal from their usual profile. With UIL being more performance-based, I could definitely see them on the outside looking in.

Except for 1st place, this should be tight... 1-Coppell - duh 2-Timber Creek - They have really upped their game in terms of difficulty, and have so many moments in this show that POP! If they can clean it up they should be comfortably in 2nd. 3- Southlake Carroll - This may be the best design they've had, and just like Timber if they are clean they should advance. 4 - Bell/Keller/Haltom I think the fight for the last spot will be between these three historical programs. Bell may not have the design like last year, but this show is on their home turf, and you know they will be working hard to clean and refine before Area. LD Bell members know how to perform, and in finals it will come down to who has the show of the night. They can do it! Haltom advanced last year for the first time in a long time. They have exceptional teachers and can't be counted out! Their show this year is different for them, but REALLY cool! Look for them to be a dark horse to grab that last spot. In the last year, Keller has lost their legendary head director of nearly 30 years, the marching band director of the last 10 who helped turn them into a power program, their percussion teacher, their 3rd assistant, and their incredible trumpet teacher who also helped the marching band. That would be tough for any program. We'll see how they do at Duncanville this weekend, but their show and musical performance this year just doesn't seem to stack up with what they've done in the past, or the other state-competitive programs. They are probably the favorite among these three to advance, but we shall see.

This one is so hard to predict, but here we go: Finalists (Panel): Vandegrift (1) Marcus(1) TWHS (1) FloMo(1) Pearland(1) Cedar Park (2) Rouse (2) Vista Ridge (2) Hebron (2) Westlake (2) - more on them later Coppell (1-next 4) Reagan (1-next 4) Cedar Ridge (1-next 4) Bowie (1-next 4) Who Gets Left Out (among others) Round Rock (1) Waxahachie (2) Leander (2) CTJ (2) Keller (2) LD Bell (2) Southlake (2) MG Johnson (2) I think there are nine bands on Panel 1 that stand out as clear finalists. This is the most lopsided seeding we've ever seen at the Super Regional. It might just be luck of the draw, but it really puts the Panel 2 bands at a disadvantage. While it might seem unlikely for all four "next highest scores" to come from the same panel, I just can't see any of those groups being left out. Panel 2 is harder to predict, but even then, the first four bands I listed are almost guaranteed finalists. I chose Westlake as my last "top five" band in Panel 2 because their GE scores at BOA Waco were higher than anyone's except CR. Since GE is weighted so heavily, that gave them the edge for me. Plus, Westlake consistently marches and plays at a high level year in and year out. It was tough to leave Round Rock out of the finals because I think their show is solid and will continue to improve through the State Marching Band Contest. If they were in Panel 2, they’d have a strong case to make finals over Westlake. Leander and Southlake also have entertaining shows, but I don't see them overtaking Westlake for that last spot in Panel 2. CTJ has been middle of the pack at their two regionals, so I’m curious to see how much they’ve grown since then. If they’re hitting their stride, they could sneak into that final Panel 2 spot. Waxahachie plays incredibly well but is still trying to get their GE to match. Keller has been a finalist here every year since 2015, with one of the best brass sections in the country during that run. However, based on the videos I’ve seen, they don’t seem to have the same sound quality or difficulty in their wind writing as other finalists. Their guard has also had lower scores at their first two shows, which has historically been a major factor at BOASA. The same goes for LD Bell. While their guard is still fantastic, their show isn’t hitting the GE benchmarks like past productions. There’s potential for growth, but at this stage in the season, it may be tough for them to secure a finalist spot. There's a 100% chance that I'm wrong, but all of this is just for fun anyway. The only thing that is for sure is that there will be a lot of great performances by a lot of great bands!