Donezo

As good as Dripping Springs is, I still think Coppell wins this in a sweep. They already sounded fantastic when I heard them in early October, and they tend to peak at around state time. It's going to be hard for any band at this contest to put out the kind of sound that Coppell does.

I always remind people who complain about early times that Friendswood and Poteet were the first two bands to perform in prelims at 4A State in 2005, and they remained the top two bands all day long. If you put on a strong enough performance, you won't get lost in the shuffle.

It happened in Area C 2002. Creekview finished 6th (only 5 advanced to state), but had two music judges and one marching judge place them in the top 3, so they advanced as well. I think this is also how Langham Creek advanced to state finals in 2000. I doubt we'll see this too much anymore, since state advancers are determined from a more limited field. I believe 2002 was the last 5A state year without area finals. In the case I mentioned, Creekview had two judges place them in the 18-25 range, which obviously can't happen in area finals. Had both judges placed them 10th, it wouldn't have been an issue.

Woof. I'm going out on a limb and calling it: 1. Bowie 2. Johnson 3. Westlake 4. Round Rock 5. Anderson 6. Reagan Cedar Ridge/Churchill/Hendrickson/Lake Travis rounding out finals. Akins/McNeil/New Braunfels/Pflugerville/Westwood as spoilers. Or anyone else really. Gah that area is deep.

It is, but I'm worried about the "B" panel, because most qualified judges are either a.) already scheduled to judge an area on Saturday b.) directing a competing band somewhere in Texas c.) tied up in scheduling conflicts that prevented them from taking area judging invitations already This could get messy.

Logistically, that would be a bit of a nightmare. Both areas are starting finals pretty late as it is. I don't know that I trust anyone over the age of 50's judgment past 11 pm! I also think that in this situation where the primary goal is to find the right bands to send to State, putting 12-14 bands in finals runs the risk of muddying the waters too much. The Area level is where most judging drama tends to happen, and I'm all in favor of presenting a more limited set of options for the judges to choose from rather than giving more of a chance for complicated ties and inconsistent placements. I'm sure prelims results from both areas will be a mess as it is.

Rumor has it that there will be two panels of judges each for Areas D and G due to the very high number of participants. Expect to see some big shifts from prelims to finals in those areas!

I agree that they're not surefire finalists, but I remember this same argument coming up two years ago. They may not be the flashiest group, but they know how to peak at the right time. Who knows. And with a group of 7 advancing from area D, I'd be pretty shocked if they weren't one of those groups. I could even see them finishing as high as third depending on the panel.

Not to mention that they've made state finals the last two times in a row! They're a quality problem that people tend to underestimate because they don't do BOA much anymore. I'm expecting good things from them as always.

I can see this happening, though I second the earlier mention of Garland as a likely area finalist. I just watched the North Mesquite region performance video. It's a great show, and they look very good. Musically, it's still pretty dirty. I'm still on the fence about their chances, but I really hope they pull it off. This is by far the best they've ever been.

Frequent 4A State advancer Kingsville: King moved down this year. They should be in the running here too.

I'm all for Region 25 getting shuffled back to Area C. Plano East would be a contender to advance and Allen, Plano, and the McKinney schools would make the race for finals slots more interesting. That was basically the Area C field back in 2000. Then again, Area B would have trouble consistently advancing four bands without them.

And I totally forgot about Flower Mound, who seems to be doing well so far. I imagine they're in the running too.

The very top heavy Area C will likely continue its Duncanville/Coppell/Berkner/Rowlett strangle hold at the top. Rowlett actually isn't up to where I usually expect them to be by this time of year, but it's still early days and I'm sure they'll pull it together by area. I've been very impressed with what I've seen from North Mesquite so far this year. I don't know if it's going to be enough to break into the top 4 (I wouldn't be surprised by a top 4 vote or two from the marching judges...) but I think they're strong finalists with the chance of pulling off an alternate slot. Sachse is always a dark horse, but I hear they're under new leadership these days. Not sure what they're up to. Of course, if something goes wrong at region and this turns into a three spot area, things get really interesting. However, with Pearce and the Rockwall schools up in 5A, I think they'll get those 20 first division ratings. Any isights into Area B? Is this the year that Plano East or Mansfield breaks into the Marcus/Bell/Hebron/Haltom group??

Interesting indeed. J. J. Pearce is another big name moving up. I doubt they'll contend with the Duncanville/Coppell/Berkner/Rowlett strong hold at the top of Area C, but they're definitely area finalist caliber and will be a nice boost in an area that sometimes struggles to send four bands to State. El Paso Hanks and Saginaw moving down to 4A will make Area A pretty interesting. Hanks could potentially do quite well at 4A State Marching Contest.

Ugh why can't we just send the SA schools back to Area E where they belong. That area could use a kick in the pants! Area D would still be intense, but with a little more breathing room.

That's where I had them too. It was a deep field....nothing to get indignant about.

Difficulty is a factor on the UIL sheets, and I think it was applied more appropriately in finals than in prelims. I certainly wouldn't put Centennial or Friendswood in the "play loud and stand still" category. In fact, I think both were in the same league as Dripping Springs.

Not true! CP almost swept, and the other 1st went to 6th place Belton. Poteet barely edged out Grapevine for 2nd. Anyway, fabulous performance by Cedar Park and a well deserved victory! I am also thrilled for Centennial, who really stepped it up and had a fantastic finals run. I thought it would be enough for silver, but DS put up a great fight. I am also pleased for Friendswood, who I knew would peak at the right time and be in the mix at the end. I actually thought Wakeland and Vendegrift were a bit better in finals, but I was also shocked by their very high prelims placements. I was definitely more in line with the finals judges this time around. Fantastic contest! One of the best 4A states ever!

I would also be surprised if those bands did not round out the top 4 in some order. Hopefully we'll find out soon!

This wouldn't surprise me one bit. I don't think anyone really touched them today.

I am DYING to see them. I'm sure scoring was all over the place. This was a tough contest to call, though I somehow got 9/10 of the finalists right (Wakeland possibly fell victim to their super early performance time for me in favor of Newman Smith. I did have Wakeland 12th though!)

I've been watching all day and I still have them in 2nd. Who knows!

I remember! I think they didn't advance in 2000 and missed finals in 2002. I remember the crowd ooh-ing and aaah-ing over the plume change at State in 2002. And then I was left wondering if the whole band was ever going to play at the same time. LOL. They thankfully achieved a happier balance in 2004 and 2006 and performed really well in both arenas. However, those are the two shows from Reagan's peak that people tend to overlook. Perhaps there is a bit of a trade off there!

Coppell has had their detractors on the execution front back to their 4A days, but they've always done well in the UIL circuit largely because they play the crap out of very difficult music. The clearest examples of stellar execution of somewhat simpler material for me is Duncanville in the early 00's and Dripping Springs now. Maybe even Marcus to a lesser extent.