UIL 6A Area J 2025

[JFNDOWBFAN]

39 minutes ago, TrenBS said:

Its hard to do without spoiling to be fair, plus I want to keep it positive since it IS just HS band game 1 haha

I think if I were to be more specific, visuals have improved across the board besides 2 groups who are either performing lighter books or are about the same. The big captions going into area will definitely be visual ensemble and brass since theyre the most improved and the most uncertain respectively.

The top 3 groups so far in regards to improvement from the year before would probably be Hebron (visually on another level at least in the opener so far, and more integrated music) McKinney Boyd (At this time thy only had 11-13 sets on the field with the rest standstill, this year they have 31 with choreo with much higher levels of difficulty, which is night and day from last year) and Little Elm (show design is a lot better than the past few years, I could see them becoming competitive in finals in the coming year or so)

Cant really comment on FloMo or Marcuses improvement, theres limited recordings of them and its not something I can comment on in regards to improvement objectively, but theyre still in the top 3 contenders not like thatll change anytime soon

No matter how the pie gets sliced, its going to be an amazing performance!

[TrenBS]

Im really curious on McKinney High this year, I really liked their visuals but there was no audio in the recording I had, Ill try and get a recording after game 2 but theyve been on a steep incline the past 2 years and I hope it continues to trend that way

[JFNDOWBFAN]

If you want to see Prosper halftime show. You “might” be able to see it during the Rockwall Sports Network broadcast (search you tube). Last week they showed both Heath and Highland Park

[Tubalord11]

little bit of McKinney, stars at 1:18:00

Good start!

[BugWub24]

My early take on Area J this season:

1. Flower Mound
2. Hebron
3. Marcus
4. Prosper
5. Braswell
6. Wylie East
7. McKinney
8. Wylie
9. McKinney Boyd
10. Rock Hill

Lot of hype around FloMo's show - maybe they overtake Hebron? Braswell is primed to gun for that 4th spot. After seeing both Wylie bands, POTE is waaaay better this year, and could possibly compete with Braswell. I like TWB's show, but I think McKinney overtakes them this year. And Rock Hill will make their way back into the fold.

 

[Thatonedoublereed14]

Some of these bands haven't even debuted their contest show yet - I know Prosper and Rock Hill have been performing spirit shows at halftime up until now. I'm excited to see how this area unfolds when every band's show is on the field and clean

[Hello123454321]

On 9/13/2025 at 8:01 PM, TrenBS said:

Ive now seen more bands and will make a slightly more educated prediction:

1. Flower Mound (Visual)

2. Hebron (Woodwind, Brass)

3. Marcus (Percussion)

4. Prosper (Woodwinds 2, Visuals 2)

5. Braswell/McKinney Boyd (percussion 2)

6. McKinney Boyd/Braswell

7. Wylie (Brass 2)

8. McKinney High/WEast

9. WEast/McKinney High

10. Rock Hill, Plano East, Little Elm, Plano West

(The 2 captions are excluding the top 3 who would be 4th in the respective captions)

Flower Mounds staging is incredible, they will be the absolute winners for visuals this year. Hebron will probably beat Marcus here specifically due to achievement, but at State I think Marcus will beat them.

 

Wylie is the most sporadic here, Im personally not a fan of the shows drill staging and music progression, but its very content dense and the performers are achieving it pretty well, so they could frankly easily be 4th, but Im not crazy about this year compared to last year which had a better flow.

Braswell I have yet to see, but if they are around where they were last year theyll be locked at 5th, otherwise they could go all the way down to 9th if last year was a one off

I really like WEast this year compared to last year, but Im not a fan of the use of a certain DCI movement in the late 2010s (Im not a fan of the movement in general so not really a mark against Wylie East), otherwise they perform pretty well and could go all the way up to about 5-7 

This year is going to be really good for area J, like REALLY REALLY good. I think if every school come area were to go against themselves from last year I think at least the top 9 this year wins against themselves. My gripes are really only design based and every school has much more difficult shows in general and the players are all better. If were being real the top 2-3 and 5-9 are pretty much completely unpredictable, and 10-14 is another bubble thats really competitive, potentially 9-14 depending on how the sheets roll out

 

Usually, marching shows aren’t usually clean in the beginning of the season. Also, where did u watch the marching shows?

[TrenBS]

Finally saw more groups, we will see these groups on public recordings soon but here are my thoughts before the mid season begins (some repeats, but it was too early to say anything even design wise, it still is in regards to achievement but I feel confident in the bubbles we will see in October):

Hebron: Wow. This is probably their most visually and musically cohesive show, its going to be a UIL monster at state. Their brass and woodwind lines in the past have been guilty of just sounding “noodly”, think Hebron 2023 woodwinds after the ballad, Hebron 2021 had noodling, Hebron 2019 wasnt as bad but felt disjointed movement to movement, but the woodwinds and brass have REALLY good musical moments even through sixteenth and double tonguing. So far theres no noodling and the visuals for Hebron are really demanding.

Rock Hill: I had a poor recording so I couldnt really gather much, but I like the direction of their show, I think this is a step in the right direction design wise and could possibly break back into finals this year.

Prosper: Visually pretty good, demand feels lower than last year but they are cleaner in general. I wish the boat props did more but that might be subject to change given how Prospers show over the years develop. I imagine theyll be 4th unless percussion and visual judges have different priorities.

Allen: Visually pretty good for them honestly, they are moving more than previous years and they sound pretty good. I don't think they will make finals this year but overall a strong year for Allen.

Little Elm: I am surprised by the amount of growth they've seen in just a year. I think visuals will hold them back but even then they have improved in every aspect, will be a strong 10-14 contender this year.

Braswell: Im going to be honest, I do not like the writing. Last year was really really good design wise and felt very original at area, but I feel overstimulated with the frequent DCI references and the brass are over-programmed over the WWs and Percussion (definitely a fun experience for the students).

THAT BEING SAID, they are performing it very well, theres tuning issues in the recording I heard but they have a strong sound and move well as an ensemble, I still think they'll be in the 4-5 range due to achievement, but I was let down after how well designed their show was last year. If you like hype moments and callbacks, you will like this show, but it takes to about halfway through the ballad to feel like its own show.

Edit: Adding more bands without pinging the channel

Boyd: This is their best designed show ever, easily. Now I dont know if its enough to make state since this area is so competitive, but this year in particular now feels like 4-8 are really interchangeable. But this is definitely best show to come out of McKinney Boyd and Im excited to see where they go in the future, some balancing problems in areas but a strong sound from every section, and visually better than usual, still needs cleaning but a great start of the season for the program.

Plano East: I am again shocked. The most challenging musically and visually show from Plano East in a LONG time, and very distinctly designed. The brass are the best performing but its still early season, but the biggest thing that will hold them back is cleanliness for area, but Id personally rank them in the 9-12 range now.

[JFNDOWBFAN]

7 hours ago, TrenBS said:

Finally saw more groups, we will see these groups on public recordings soon but here are my thoughts before the mid season begins (some repeats, but it was too early to say anything even design wise, it still is in regards to achievement but I feel confident in the bubbles we will see in October):

Hebron: Wow. This is probably their most visually and musically cohesive show, its going to be a UIL monster at state. Their brass and woodwind lines in the past have been guilty of just sounding “noodly”, think Hebron 2023 woodwinds after the ballad, Hebron 2021 had noodling, Hebron 2019 wasnt as bad but felt disjointed movement to movement, but the woodwinds and brass have REALLY good musical moments even through sixteenth and double tonguing. So far theres no noodling and the visuals for Hebron are really demanding.

Rock Hill: I had a poor recording so I couldnt really gather much, but I like the direction of their show, I think this is a step in the right direction design wise and could possibly break back into finals this year.

Prosper: Visually pretty good, demand feels lower than last year but they are cleaner in general. I wish the boat props did more but that might be subject to change given how Prospers show over the years develop. I imagine theyll be 4th unless percussion and visual judges have different priorities.

Allen: Visually pretty good for them honestly, they are moving more than previous years and they sound pretty good. I don't think they will make finals this year but overall a strong year for Allen.

Little Elm: I am surprised by the amount of growth they've seen in just a year. I think visuals will hold them back but even then they have improved in every aspect, will be a strong 10-14 contender this year.

Braswell: Im going to be honest, I do not like the writing. Last year was really really good design wise and felt very original at area, but I feel overstimulated with the frequent DCI references and the brass are over-programmed over the WWs and Percussion (definitely a fun experience for the students).

THAT BEING SAID, they are performing it very well, theres tuning issues in the recording I heard but they have a strong sound and move well as an ensemble, I still think they'll be in the 4-5 range due to achievement, but I was let down after how well designed their show was last year. If you like hype moments and callbacks, you will like this show, but it takes to about halfway through the ballad to feel like its own show.

Good write ups! Ready to start seeing some bands first hand!

[TrenBS]

13 hours ago, JFNDOWBFAN said:

Good write ups! Ready to start seeing some bands first hand!

If theres anything I can say for certain is that every single band is at its best since 2018. EVERY group Ive seen will do something that makes me go “wow X band is doing that?”, I may not strongly connect with some of the design choices but the area this year feels a lot closer to area B and D as a whole compared to other years where it was kind of just LISD and Prosper+everyone else.

Im not even going to be attending this competition to see who makes it. Im going here just to experience what Im comfortable saying is going to be the best top 10 of area J (or area C minus Rockwall+Rock Hill+Sachse).

[SharksAreCool]

Okay here’s my thoughts after the first weekish of competitions.

 

Hebron-Feels a little more jazzy this year, really like how visual it is though.

FloMo- ……….nope still waiting

Marcus-Talk about a percussion section. I expect theme to get the percussion category for sure this year. 

McKinney-Three words for you: Wall, Of, Sound. Talk about a dark horse band, not to mention knocking down Braswell a couple of spots

Braswell-Some really good stuff from them. I was expecting them a little higher for Melissa, but it could’ve just been their run.

Both Wylies-They are both doing really well. Weast in particular sounds a lot better than last year. They are definitely both bands that could throw off rankings for me.

 

Still have yet to see: Prosper, RockHill, FloMo, and many more. Can’t wait for this season though.

[WanderingTraveler]

5 hours ago, SharksAreCool said:

Okay here’s my thoughts after the first weekish of competitions.

 

Hebron-Feels a little more jazzy this year, really like how visual it is though.

FloMo- ……….nope still waiting

Marcus-Talk about a percussion section. I expect theme to get the percussion category for sure this year. 

McKinney-Three words for you: Wall, Of, Sound. Talk about a dark horse band, not to mention knocking down Braswell a couple of spots

Braswell-Some really good stuff from them. I was expecting them a little higher for Melissa, but it could’ve just been their run.

Both Wylies-They are both doing really well. Weast in particular sounds a lot better than last year. They are definitely both bands that could throw off rankings for me.

 

Still have yet to see: Prosper, RockHill, FloMo, and many more. Can’t wait for this season though.

McKinney really shocked me at Melissa, I was very impressed. I think they are dialed and have a great show. Also agree with the wall of sound thing!

[WanderingTraveler]

31 minutes ago, PredictionPower said:

The McKinney schools have really stepped it up these past years, and I can't wait to see McKinney push to reach their goal of making state!

I agree, and I could see this being Mckinney Highs year! Mckinney making it back for the first time since 2015 would be super exciting!

[bandguy67]

Does anyone have any predictions for prelims

[Tubalord11]

1 hour ago, bandguy67 said:

Does anyone have any predictions for prelims

1. Hebron/Flomo

2. Flomo/Hebron 

3. Marcus 

4. Prosper (have yet to see) 

5. Mckinney 

6. Wylie/Braswell 

6. Braswell/Wylie 

7. Wylie East/Boyd 

8. Boyd/WE 

9. Rock Hill 

10. Plano East/Lewisville 

[TrenBS]

Draw times for area J, pretty solid spread all around honestly. Probably one of the most consistent schedules in regards to strength in blocks, and McKinney Boyd finally got a time that isnt in the top 3 haha

[PredictionPower]

2 more Saturdays until area!! Any more predictions?

[Tubalord11]

10 hours ago, PredictionPower said:

2 more Saturdays until area!! Any more predictions?

1. Flomo 

2. Hebron 

3. Marcus 

4. Prosper 

5. McKinney 

6. Wylie 

7. Braswell 

8. Wylie East

9. McKinney Boyd 

10. Rock Hill

[SharksAreCool]

10 hours ago, PredictionPower said:

2 more Saturdays until area!! Any more predictions?

1. Hebron

2. FloMo

3. Marcus

4. Prosper

5. McKinney

6. Wylie

7. Braswell

8. Boyd

9. WEast 

10. Plano East/RockHill

 

The reason I have Hebron at 1 is because I think their show is more geared towards UIL this year rather than BOA. FloMo could absolutely dominate but IMO give me Hebron on this one.

[TrenBS]

Just going to say in here that BOA and UIL use vastly different criteria when judging bands, so none of it is even close to a 1:1 comparison on how UIL goes down, besides the massive gaps of course. 

That being said Im feeling very confident about my personal prediction after Seeing Prosper Wylie and McKinney High place in finals😂

[dfwhorn]

Here are my predictions for this contest as we head from our 3rd week of competition:
1. Flower Mound
2. Hebron
3. Marcus
4. Prosper/McKinney/Wylie
5. Prosper/McKinney/Wylie
6. McKinney/Wylie
7. McKinney Boyd
8. Wylie East
9. Braswell
10 Rock Hill/Little Elm/Plano East

I think we could finally see a new state advancer in this area depending on who can top off their show the most (I'd like to lean towards McKinney if any, loved their show this year), although I haven't seen prosper's show yet the other two are clearly on the rise. We just have to see though.

Number 10 is gonna be a bloodbath this year. Plano East and Rock Hill have been at a similar par the entire season, but LE has also started to catch up as well, i know BOA scores shouldn't be included but every judge at the contest had the two almost at par  with each other which could show a sign of a tossup for that 10 spot for this year, and there are other schools we could sneak in there such as Byron or Plano West, so this 10 spot could be a bigger fight that anticipated for this year.

This contest is gonna be a great one once again, I'd say that if you didn't know which 6A to go to this might be the one.

[Hello123454321]

Wylie has a pretty good chance this year. Them beating Prosper at BOA Prosper in Prelims was a shocker. Ik BOA and UIL is judged differently, but I find that crazy.

[JFNDOWBFAN]

On 10/3/2025 at 7:42 PM, TrenBS said:

Draw times for area J, pretty solid spread all around honestly. Probably one of the most consistent schedules in regards to strength in blocks, and McKinney Boyd finally got a time that isnt in the top 3 haha

Have you seen a draw as of yet for Area c

[JFNDOWBFAN]

3 hours ago, Hello123454321 said:

Wylie has a pretty good chance this year. Them beating Prosper at BOA Prosper in Prelims was a shocker. Ik BOA and UIL is judged differently, but I find that crazy.

I would put Wylie in front of Prosper’s choir concert 

[BassBone_2024]

20 hours ago, TrenBS said:

Just going to say in here that BOA and UIL use vastly different criteria when judging bands, so none of it is even close to a 1:1 comparison on how UIL goes down, besides the massive gaps of course. 

That being said Im feeling very confident about my personal prediction after Seeing Prosper Wylie and McKinney High place in finals😂

Can you expand on the differences please.