2015 Predictions

[Anstig]

Good the cavaliers are gonna take a medal!

[BillH]

1. Couchmen

2. Bacon

3. Futon Regiment

4. Pizza

5. Carolina Couch

6. Sofa Clara Vanguard

7. Ice Cream

8. INT

9. Hammock of Atlanta

10. The Couchaliers

11. The Bluecusions

12. Donuts

You are insane if you think waffles wont be top 12!

[jwillis35]

There are lots of scenarios to consider when trying to predict next year.

- BD and Cadets are 2 medal-worthy corps just about every year, or most years (BD is every year). Bluecoats had their best show ever and it took them until the last show to beat the Cadets, who may have had their worst ending ever (but an overall very good show). That's how good Cadets perform, whether you like the shows or not.

- Bluecoats have lots of momentum, as others have mentioned, and they should be able to ride that through recruiting and auditions, and their show design will be wonderful I am sure. But it will not be easy for them. SCV has been 4th the past two years and would love to medal. Carolina Crown was 5th after winning it all last year. With the talent they have returning I definitely see them making a strong push for top 3 again.

- Phantom Regiment typically puts out a stunning show just about every 2 or 3 years. They had one in 2012. Maybe this will be the year. When Phantom is HOT, they can ruffle a lot of feathers in medal land.

- Blue Stars have supplanted Madison, once again, as the best corps in the state of Wisconsin. Will Madison respond? They have a lot to do in Madison, but I know the "boys" will be back. I also like the direction Blue Stars took this year, and they have an excellent instructional staff.

- Troopers and Spirit, both excellent drum corps, were not able to get into top 12 this year thanks to Crossmen and The Colts. What's next? I really liked Troopers show, but it didn't become a Troopers show until after they posted the picture of Lincoln. Spirit's show was up and down for me. Loved the uniforms and the look. Liked some of the music, but the flow of the show needs more focus.

So with all that said, my pre-season rankings for 2015 will look like this:

1. The Cadets - They like to win about once every 3 years. They were outstanding performers this past summer. Show design hurt in the last minute, and GE throughout the show didn't materialize as they had hoped, at least not on the sheets. I personally loved the show. They will not be a popular pick. People like to take corps or shows they dislike and dump them. But these guys are proven winners and almost always a medal worthy corps. Maroon Team for the Gold!!
2. Carolina Crown - Incredible brass, a solid guard, and a more effective show theme with clear focus, and these guys I believe will roar back. Percussion will continue to improve.
3. Blue Devils - Tough to put Concord in 3rd after a 99.65, but how do you follow such brilliance? They are always medal worthy. Some of the best performers in the activity. But I believe they will miss on show design just slightly.
4. The Cavaliers - Another medal worthy competitor is about to come out of dormancy. The only thing that will hold them back, just slightly, is brass. But one never knows. Maybe auditions are good and they land some great players. I was impressed with what their brass staff did this past summer, and I loved their show.
5. Phantom Regiment - Look out for these guys next year. They were not as HOT as Cavaliers at the end, but they were hot. I think Phantom, with that amazing brass, is going to put the pieces together and jump back into top 5.
6. Santa Clara Vanguard - A fierce competitor and I almost always love their shows. They could be better than they were this past summer, but competition will be tough. This was my dark horse corps this past summer but it just never materialized. The Cavaliers will be my dark horse corps for next summer.
7. Bluecoats - Yes, they have momentum and are coming off their best summer ever. They lose lots of age-outs. They will certainly reload, no doubt. Auditions should go well, and they always produce a top-notch brass and percussion section. Can they buck the trend of not falling back after pushing forward? Show design will need to carefully be chosen. They will not be able to do a re-hash of Tilt, similar to Crown whose "Mars" show had lots of similarities to their space-themed show from 2013. The wrong theme could push Blooo back to 6th or 7th.
8. Blue Knights - there is some momentum with this corps, but I personally thought Boston performed better. BK had the better show. BK needs to clean better and refine performance levels, but I love the direction they are heading.
9. Boston Crusaders could be a top 5 corps if they do the right show (and they've been there before), or they can be a 11th place show. Let's see what they do and how they reload for 2015.
10. Blue Stars - I see another excellent show coming from these guys.
11. Madison Scouts - I have them moving up a slot. Change can be good, even though we will miss Mr. Mason dearly and he did a lot to get this corps turned in the right direction. If Madison gets the right show theme or concept, watch out, they can "Play Ball" with the best.
12. Troopers - Perhaps this is more wishful thinking, but I have a feeling they can put together the right blend of sophistication, Americana, power, and color to "knock one" out of the park.
13. Academy - This is also wishful thinking, but I've been pulling for these guys for a while. Given the right show I believe they can even be top 12. Would be nice to have a NEW and first-time member in the top 12 of DCI.

Edited August 14, 2014 by jwillis35

[Lincoln]

Good the cavaliers are gonna take a medal!

Good to see you took care of that Trojan your computer had that kept repeating the letter "a."

[BRASSO]

1) Cadets........... ( wing of the Cadevaliers )

2) Blue Devils.......( wing of the Cadevaliers )

3) Cavaliers.........( wing of the Cadevaliers )

4- 37...............everybody else.

[tesmusic]

- Blue Stars have supplanted Madison, once again, as the best corps in the state of Wisconsin.

That's debatable. So many people have ragged on Madison, yet when I saw both the Blue Stars and Madison on 5 occasions live, as well as at finals, and subsequent videos, I can't say that the Blue Stars are better than Madison, and to be frank, I don't think the Boston Crusaders were better either.

[luv4corps]

BD's design and skill sets are being passed down to BDB and same at maybe a lesser extent at SCV and SCVC. The reality is that BDB and SCVC are world class corps competing in Open Class. I expect that BDB will, if not next year, the following year, by semifinals push whomever was sitting at number 12 out of finals.

I don't want to believe this is true, but it is really true.

The Concord organization knows exactly what it is doing. BDB will make finals sooner than later. The expanded open class sheets are giving them a golden opportunity to maximize, and again, they know to perfection just how to do that very thing. VC will get there too.

I would imagine that open class will never be underestimated again... certainly not by world class corps in their range. That's for sure.

I have joined the "get rid of open class entirely" camp... after what happened this year.

[Liahona]

He never once mentioned Crown in his post yet you respond with comparing them to Crown? Did you see his Crown logo and just assume everything he says is in some way related to Crown? I'm changing mine, you people are insane. I like a show/corps therefore I'm a homer and everything I say is in comparison.

I think this is why so many like to hide or be anonymous...

[mcjordansc]

I am not even going to attempt a guess at next year's placements. I will say it is hard not to go with Blue Devils winning. They are simply too good. When they do not win it is an upset. It is like Iowa wrestling during the late 70s and 80s.

SCV and Cavaliers certainly seem to be on the rise, but how do they jump the Cadets and Bluecoats? Why would we not expect to see Crown back at the top?

The only G7 corps that seems to have a challenge in front of to remain in the G7 is Phantom, but, like a poster above stated, they are always capable of a surprise.

Blue Knights had a good formula this year, but I cannot tell if this will carry over.

Blue Stars have a staff that seem to know how to design a high scoring show, so I expect they will be better, but it is very hard to jump any of the corps in front of them.

Boston certainly should be better, barring another ego trip design that wastes top six talent on delivering a message that 90% of the fans could not care less about.

Madison should always be a top six corps considering the advantages they have because of their history, fan base and recruiting capability. Yet, they always seem to underachieve.

The final spot? Crossmen's hold on number 12 seems precarious. Colts are coming (they probably could have made it to #12 this year if the scarecrow had died in early June). Troopers simply did not have the show this year, but I imagine they will come roaring back next year.

One last corps that I want to keep an eye on is Blue Devils B. The challenge to put two corps from the Blue Devils organization in finals might be one the staff and members take on. That would be kind of cool.

I hope Spirit rebounds, but I think they fell way too far to make a move back into finals one year after placing 17.

[BRASSO]

My hope is that, unlike this season, that by the 3rd week of the season we still won't have a pretty good idea who the next DCI Champion is going to be.