UIL 6A Area J 2026 (Oct 31)🎃

[TrenBS]

Its never too early? Right?😂

The UIL 6A Area J is on October 31st🎃, 2026. The Area J marching contest will take place at the McKinney ISD District Wide Stadium (Tenative)

[WanderingTraveler]

Is it acceptable for the bands to wear costumes for area😂

[TrenBS]

1 hour ago, WanderingTraveler said:

Is it acceptable for the bands to wear costumes for area😂

Depending on who you ask they already are, am I right?😂

[TrenBS]

Also so far, Wakeland*, McKinney North* and Walnut Grove are currently set to move up to 6A. This means after the fact we will have... 4 state slots... between LISD Prosper and Wakeland now...

If area J ends up getting resolved, Im going to have the edit tool ready to turn this back into C

[Thatonedoublereed14]

On 11/13/2025 at 3:48 PM, TrenBS said:

Also so far, Wakeland*, McKinney North* and Walnut Grove are currently set to move up to 6A. This means after the fact we will have... 4 state slots... between LISD Prosper and Wakeland now...

If area J ends up getting resolved, Im going to have the edit tool ready to turn this back into C

I thought Wakeland was below the estimated 2,250 6a threshold with 2,245? Or has the cutoff estimation changed recently?

[TrenBS]

10 hours ago, Thatonedoublereed14 said:

I thought Wakeland was below the estimated 2,250 6a threshold with 2,245? Or has the cutoff estimation changed recently?

Student populations across the state are declining, so its highly likely the cutoff goes down, of course its all speculation until February, but I believe Wakeland will be above the line unless Frisco edits their numbers

[dfwhorn]

If the regions remain the same, this is how we are looking bands wise based on enrollments

Region 2:
Byron Nelson HS
Braswell HS
Flower Mound HS
Guyer HS
Hebron HS
Lewisville HS
Marcus HS
Northwest HS
V.R. Eaton HS
Region 24:
Little Elm HS
McKinney HS
McKinney Boyd HS
McKinney North HS? (TBD)
Prosper HS
Rock Hill HS
Walnut Grove HS
Wakeland HS
Region 25:
Allen HS
Melissa HS?? (only if cutoff is low enough, enrollment is 2204, but probably unlikely)
Plano Sr HS
Plano East Sr HS
Plano West Sr HS
Princeton HS
Wylie HS
Wylie East HS

If North and Melissa both make the cutoff, that's 25 bands. This would mean the possibility of 5 bands advancing to SMBC, which could give schools like Wylie East, McKinney, and Braswell a chance at the Dome, which would probably be ideal considering the area.  

[lost]

Can we make area threads yet? I thought they were going to rezone 

[TrenBS]

I think its fine to have one up just in case, if they end up rezoning massively we can just delete/edit

[DrummersEcho]

⚔️6A AREA J 2026 ⚔️ - McKinney ISD District Wide Stadium 
My honest opinion on how 6A Area J may play out. 
This list is mostly personal opinions on what i think these schools can pull off. As well as BOA/SMBC Scores.
First, I truly believe that the first thing that should come first in a successful band, is SHOW DESIGN, Does this make sense? Does this relate to the props? Drill? Music? Does it give off a good General Effect?

1. Hebron HS (depends)
2. Flower Mound HS (depends)
3. Marcus HS 
4. Wakeland HS
5. Prosper HS
6. Mckinney HS
7. Wylie East HS
8. Wylie HS
9. Mckinney Boyd HS
10. Braswell HS 

Let’s talk.

So, as you know, Hebron and Flower Mound are basically a one-or-the-other situation. They are nearly equivalent, but here’s the thing: Hebron generally does it better—arranging, drill, visual, and music design. And yes, Flower Mound can beat Hebron in all of these captions. It just depends and the Show Design.

Marcus and Wakeland are very strong programs. Absolute BOA demons. Marcus consistently places in the top four at BOA Prosper and BOA Dallas. Wakeland never fails to beat schools you’d never expect them to beat. They’ve been 5A bronze medalists I don’t even know how many times, along with several 4th- and 5th-place finishes over the last 10 years. Prosper could be neck and neck with Wakeland, but I’m leaning toward Wakeland. They have a very strong director lineup (Guidry / Ayoub / Norwood)—ex-Hebron and Flower Mound directors who are also UIL judges.

Prosper and McKinney are two very interesting programs. McKinney is going to Grand Nationals next year, so I know they’re likely going to step it up for Area as well. Prosper has also made Grand National Finals and State Finals for the first time in school history this year (2025). These programs are strong. However, I do expect to see some differences between Area results and BOA results. Prosper beating Wakeland is definitely not impossible, but it will be hard, as Wakeland knows whats coming up next year.

Wylie East and Wylie—okay, these programs are really good. I can’t disagree with that. Wylie East’s 18th-place finish at BOA San Antonio and 5th-place finish at Area were impressive. They cleaned their show and had a wonderful design. My ideas may change in the future depending on how things go with Prosper and McKinney, but I have some optimism for them.

McKinney Boyd and Braswell—this really just comes down to how stacked this Area is. There are a lot of powerhouse bands fighting for finals, and making finals here is hard. I do enjoy these shows, but with our new competitor Wakeland, it’s going to wipe out a lot of other bands’ dreams of making State. I know what that’s like, coming from a band program that doesn’t make State. At this point, the main hope is improvement.

Final Conclusions

Alright, I don’t think this is a complete or permanent list, but this is what I think based on the work these bands are putting out and how they improve at each competition. This list will change eventually, but my top five is locked. I may flip 4 and 5 a bit throughout the season, but I have high hopes for our new competitor, Wakeland.

Cheers to the next 6A Area J—this will be a true bloody heck. 😁 

[BbMarching]

19 hours ago, DrummersEcho said:

⚔️6A AREA J 2026 ⚔️ - McKinney ISD District Wide Stadium 
My honest opinion on how 6A Area J may play out. 
This list is mostly personal opinions on what i think these schools can pull off. As well as BOA/SMBC Scores.
First, I truly believe that the first thing that should come first in a successful band, is SHOW DESIGN, Does this make sense? Does this relate to the props? Drill? Music? Does it give off a good General Effect?

1. Hebron HS (depends)
2. Flower Mound HS (depends)
3. Marcus HS 
4. Wakeland HS
5. Prosper HS
6. Mckinney HS
7. Wylie East HS
8. Wylie HS
9. Mckinney Boyd HS
10. Braswell HS 

Let’s talk.

So, as you know, Hebron and Flower Mound are basically a one-or-the-other situation. They are nearly equivalent, but here’s the thing: Hebron generally does it better—arranging, drill, visual, and music design. And yes, Flower Mound can beat Hebron in all of these captions. It just depends and the Show Design.

Marcus and Wakeland are very strong programs. Absolute BOA demons. Marcus consistently places in the top four at BOA Prosper and BOA Dallas. Wakeland never fails to beat schools you’d never expect them to beat. They’ve been 5A bronze medalists I don’t even know how many times, along with several 4th- and 5th-place finishes over the last 10 years. Prosper could be neck and neck with Wakeland, but I’m leaning toward Wakeland. They have a very strong director lineup (Guidry / Ayoub / Norwood)—ex-Hebron and Flower Mound directors who are also UIL judges.

Prosper and McKinney are two very interesting programs. McKinney is going to Grand Nationals next year, so I know they’re likely going to step it up for Area as well. Prosper has also made Grand National Finals and State Finals for the first time in school history this year (2025). These programs are strong. However, I do expect to see some differences between Area results and BOA results. Prosper beating Wakeland is definitely not impossible, but it will be hard, as Wakeland knows whats coming up next year.

Wylie East and Wylie—okay, these programs are really good. I can’t disagree with that. Wylie East’s 18th-place finish at BOA San Antonio and 5th-place finish at Area were impressive. They cleaned their show and had a wonderful design. My ideas may change in the future depending on how things go with Prosper and McKinney, but I have some optimism for them.

McKinney Boyd and Braswell—this really just comes down to how stacked this Area is. There are a lot of powerhouse bands fighting for finals, and making finals here is hard. I do enjoy these shows, but with our new competitor Wakeland, it’s going to wipe out a lot of other bands’ dreams of making State. I know what that’s like, coming from a band program that doesn’t make State. At this point, the main hope is improvement.

Final Conclusions

Alright, I don’t think this is a complete or permanent list, but this is what I think based on the work these bands are putting out and how they improve at each competition. This list will change eventually, but my top five is locked. I may flip 4 and 5 a bit throughout the season, but I have high hopes for our new competitor, Wakeland.

Cheers to the next 6A Area J—this will be a true bloody heck. 😁 

Though this could ALL change in February, with a potential rezone (which I think is likely, as the fact that every band that advanced to State from J last year made State Finals really highlights how utterly unfair this area is). In theory (and this is my prediction (and hope)), a lot of these bands could be moved back to Area C, restoring a modicum of balance to the whole northeast Dallas situation. Thanks for the Wylie East shoutout! Nice to be recognized for our improvements

[dfwhorn]

On 12/26/2025 at 4:23 PM, DrummersEcho said:

⚔️6A AREA J 2026 ⚔️ - McKinney ISD District Wide Stadium 
My honest opinion on how 6A Area J may play out. 
This list is mostly personal opinions on what i think these schools can pull off. As well as BOA/SMBC Scores.
First, I truly believe that the first thing that should come first in a successful band, is SHOW DESIGN, Does this make sense? Does this relate to the props? Drill? Music? Does it give off a good General Effect?

1. Hebron HS (depends)
2. Flower Mound HS (depends)
3. Marcus HS 
4. Wakeland HS
5. Prosper HS
6. Mckinney HS
7. Wylie East HS
8. Wylie HS
9. Mckinney Boyd HS
10. Braswell HS 

Let’s talk.

So, as you know, Hebron and Flower Mound are basically a one-or-the-other situation. They are nearly equivalent, but here’s the thing: Hebron generally does it better—arranging, drill, visual, and music design. And yes, Flower Mound can beat Hebron in all of these captions. It just depends and the Show Design.

Marcus and Wakeland are very strong programs. Absolute BOA demons. Marcus consistently places in the top four at BOA Prosper and BOA Dallas. Wakeland never fails to beat schools you’d never expect them to beat. They’ve been 5A bronze medalists I don’t even know how many times, along with several 4th- and 5th-place finishes over the last 10 years. Prosper could be neck and neck with Wakeland, but I’m leaning toward Wakeland. They have a very strong director lineup (Guidry / Ayoub / Norwood)—ex-Hebron and Flower Mound directors who are also UIL judges.

Prosper and McKinney are two very interesting programs. McKinney is going to Grand Nationals next year, so I know they’re likely going to step it up for Area as well. Prosper has also made Grand National Finals and State Finals for the first time in school history this year (2025). These programs are strong. However, I do expect to see some differences between Area results and BOA results. Prosper beating Wakeland is definitely not impossible, but it will be hard, as Wakeland knows whats coming up next year.

Wylie East and Wylie—okay, these programs are really good. I can’t disagree with that. Wylie East’s 18th-place finish at BOA San Antonio and 5th-place finish at Area were impressive. They cleaned their show and had a wonderful design. My ideas may change in the future depending on how things go with Prosper and McKinney, but I have some optimism for them.

McKinney Boyd and Braswell—this really just comes down to how stacked this Area is. There are a lot of powerhouse bands fighting for finals, and making finals here is hard. I do enjoy these shows, but with our new competitor Wakeland, it’s going to wipe out a lot of other bands’ dreams of making State. I know what that’s like, coming from a band program that doesn’t make State. At this point, the main hope is improvement.

Final Conclusions

Alright, I don’t think this is a complete or permanent list, but this is what I think based on the work these bands are putting out and how they improve at each competition. This list will change eventually, but my top five is locked. I may flip 4 and 5 a bit throughout the season, but I have high hopes for our new competitor, Wakeland.

Cheers to the next 6A Area J—this will be a true bloody heck. 😁 

Area J is one of those areas where you could say that each of the 23 bands that participate are cracked. It sounds like an overstatement but i really mean it, i feel like every band in this area would go so far if it werent for the fact that these bands had to be ranked.

[Tubalord11]

6 hours ago, dfwhorn said:

Area J is one of those areas where you could say that each of the 23 bands that participate are cracked. It sounds like an overstatement but i really mean it, i feel like every band in this area would go so far if it werent for the fact that these bands had to be ranked.

As someone who was here this past season I agree. I’d say there is still a middle line at some point, but yeah most of these bands are extremely good.

[lost]

27 minutes ago, Tubalord11 said:

As someone who was here this past season I agree. I’d say there is still a middle line at some point, but yeah most of these bands are extremely good.

Extremely is a vast overstatement

[Tubalord11]

10 hours ago, lost said:

Extremely is a vast overstatement

Yeah, maybe pretty good is better, but I was impressed with some of the bottom half bands here. I remember seeing Allen and PW, they were pretty dang good. 

[dfwhorn]

22 hours ago, Tubalord11 said:

As someone who was here this past season I agree. I’d say there is still a middle line at some point, but yeah most of these bands are extremely good.

For sure, i mean like you said even looking at bands like Allen and PW and even saying some schools that are a little more disregarded like LE, V.R Eaton, Northwest, matter of fact the rest of Area J all had great shows, and same thing for the schools I mentioned. It sucks that some of these schools have to be 18th 19th and 20th and etc because just looking at how some of these schools performed at Area/equivalent contests (USBands ATT for NW since they didnt go to area) putting these programs at these placements seems like an understatement all the time. Of course theres gonna be a middle line but I don't think that there is any school in this area out of the 21 (and 23 if you count Walnut Grove and Wakeland next year) that you would consider "bad". Matter of fact i'd say that applies to most if not all of the bands in our area. But i guess since its a contest, the inevitability of ranking the bands has to be done. 

[FrozenMello]

Hello, I'm a freshman at Prosper High and have just completed my first season I would just like to know how you guys feel about our band and just general info. Honestly, even if it's my first season I feel like we're pretty good, and in the band morale is pretty high since we made 6A finals for the first time in school history. Even if for some bands making finals expected, for us that isn't and tbh I know I'm lucky to be in a band that at least consistently makes state. So I would just like to know like what everyone else thinks about PHS, tips, and what you guys thought of The Odyssey too. Thank you guys for your help!

 

Also if you guys want, I can give you guys my unfiltered opinion on other bands.

[Tubalord11]

3 hours ago, FrozenMello said:

Hello, I'm a freshman at Prosper High and have just completed my first season I would just like to know how you guys feel about our band and just general info. Honestly, even if it's my first season I feel like we're pretty good, and in the band morale is pretty high since we made 6A finals for the first time in school history. Even if for some bands making finals expected, for us that isn't and tbh I know I'm lucky to be in a band that at least consistently makes state. So I would just like to know like what everyone else thinks about PHS, tips, and what you guys thought of The Odyssey too. Thank you guys for your help!

 

Also if you guys want, I can give you guys my unfiltered opinion on other bands.

Y’all are amazing! I think my favorite show they’ve done at least since Covid was 2023 but I loved the Odyssey. My mom went to area finals with me and yall had her favorite show. Overall just a lot more consistency but Prospers been a big name for a good while now. You should be super proud of y’all’s season and I can’t wait to see what yall cook up for next year! 

[dfwhorn]

The 3 regions all remain the same for now; assuming it remains 2,24,25, here's an early look at how this area could look like.

1 Flower Mound
2 Hebron
3 Marcus
4 Wakeland
5 Wylie East
6 Prosper
7 McKinney
8 Wylie
9 McKinney Boyd
10 Rock Hill
First 5 out: Braswell, Byron Nelson, Plano East, Walnut Grove, Little Elm

Regarding wakeland, I believe that they are successful enough to place for state in this level and I feel confident in that. I put Wylie above prosper due to the significant enrollment decrease due to PRichland's opening; but they will still be in their own bubble so don't count out prosper just yet  Everything else is pretty typical I think. Regarding walnut grove, I think that they will be in a similar bubble as school like Byron, PESH, and LE. I gotta see shows first before I make any guesses but all of those schools excel musically so it will be close. 

It is so hard to dictate how to choose this area, especially because every school in this entire Area has its own levels of success no matter their placements. I know that some people are very dictated with their choices, and disregard the small guys; but I would not be shocked if a couple of schools sneak up to those upper spots... Dont sleep on VR eaton or Northwest this year