Pre-2024 Top 12 Guesses

[TexasPRfan]

Have to amend with Cadets not touring (come back strong in '25, HNSB!)  I'll lay out 13 - just in case SCV isn't back in Indy.

1.  BD - You know they gotta be drooling over being the first to get a 4-peat.  Will pull out all the stops - like we've never seen.

2. Bloo - Bridesmaids for a 3rd time in a row.  Hoping for fresh approach.

3.  Boston - Hoping they find more shows like Wicked Games that grab the heart and fully integrate the sections.  You know the guard will be amazing

4.  Crown - Until they solve for better, cohesive design and take some smart risks (not risks like Not Here, Not now), all that talent will not yield the results they want.  Please stop with the endless crazy technical passages that serve no purpose.

5.  Regiment - Looks like the I'm the only one on the momentum bandwagon.  Multiple years in a row now most predict Regiment to be static or to slide back.  They keep proving everyone wrong.  I think 2024 is when that staff & design team take it up a notch.  Stability will yield great results and position them to challenge the top 4 in 2025.

6-12 is a complete crap shoot to me...

6.  Colts - This is a bit of a wild card, but the more I think about Colts this year, they have a lot of momentum and balanced strengths.  Might be over-reaching, but I would not rule this out.

7.  Mandarins - Not a huge fall back in performance levels.  Hard to have that kind of lightening in a bottle 2 years in a row & more west coast recruiting competition.  I could see them as high was 5th though.  

8.  Cavies - So much ongoing turnover is never a good thing.  Still, this could be low.

9.  Troopers - If the guard is elevated, look out...

10.  SCV - Rennick & Gaines can't be underestimated.  So much uncertainty.  How much will potential members (and parents) be put off by what SCV did to their audtionees a year ago?  If I was a parent, you'd REALLY have to work hard to convince me that my kid should go there.  We will know more after the audition turn out & quality is known.

11.  Blue Stars - Could bounce back or flounder with another lackluster program.

12.  BK - My heart says Spirit, my brain says Blue Knights.  There is still a lot of underlying organizational strength, and it seems like they made good & needed staff/design moves

13.  A knife fight in a phone booth between corps knocking on the door of top 12 (or IN if SCV doesn't make it out for full tour) between Spirit & Corpsmen.  I give the nod to Spirit.  I also think Madison is closer to threatening top 12 than being give credit for.

Harvey

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by TexasPRfan
Typos

[Boss Anova]

4 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

They have the staff, but I think they will have a very young Corps, with limited vets, esp SCV vets.  We saw potential 2023 SCV marchers go to just about every other Corps in pretty even numbers.  TBD how many come back to SCV for 2024.  They may pick up a few from Cadets, but Cadets marchers may well spread out in 24 as evenly as SCV 23 did.  
 

If SCV does make it to the field in 24 it will be interesting to see how well a top-notch staff can do with a bunch of inexperienced members.  1985 Star came in like 9th with this formula, but that was in a different universe. 

BD took the 2021 season completely 0ff ( as well as 2020 where all did ) while others did limited touring in 2021  and corps that season doing exhibitions . BD marchers either aged out in  2020 and 2021  , went elsewhere , or decided their marching days were over  . BD however came back in 2022 with a younger corps ( especially in battery ) and yet won DCI after that 2 year absence . I’m guessing that SCV returns from their 1 season off and falls 2 spots from 5th to 7th upon their return in 2024 . But who really knows . But these  are my “ way too early “ placement predictions for 2024 .

[IllianaLancerContra]

4 minutes ago, Boss Anova said:

BD took the 2021 season completely 0ff ( as well as 2020 where all did ) while others did limited touring in 2021  and corps that season doing exhibitions . BD marchers either aged out in  2020 and 2021  , went elsewhere , or decided their marching days were over  . BD however came back in 2022 with a younger corps ( especially in battery ) and yet won DCI after that 2 year absence . I’m guessing that SCV returns from their 1 season off and falls 2 spots from 5th to 7th upon their return in 2024 . But who really knows . But these  are my “ way too early “ placement predictions for 2024 .

Well, I guess we’ll just need to have a 2024 season to sort this all out. 

[Jurassic Lancer]

My revised top 12

1. Bluecoats

2. Blue Devils

3. Boston

4. Mandarins

5. Crown

6. Phantom Regiment

7. Cavies

8. SCV

9. Troopers

10. Colts

11. Blue Stars

12. Crossmen  

 

[TOC]

On 10/19/2023 at 12:55 PM, TexasPRfan said:

2. Bloo - Bridesmaids for a 3rd time in a row.  Hoping for fresh approach. 

PR had the same three-year outcome from 77-79 and they survived and kept working hard. 

[Jeff Ream]

On 9/10/2023 at 12:09 AM, Jeff Ream said:

the top 12 scoring corps from semi finals

still applies

[jjeffeory]

On 10/19/2023 at 11:30 AM, TOC said:

Does craiga know something about the Cavies that we don't know about?

No, he absolutely DOESN'T.

[Vuitton]

On 10/17/2023 at 10:29 AM, jjeffeory said:

Whelp, Cadets are out. SCV coming back that high is suss ( suspect), Regiment dropping too much probably won't happen. Blue Stars will probably bounce back.  Boston dropped a couple of spots this year and I think Bluecoats are going to be better than them next time based mostly on show design. Mandarins at 5th would be nice, but let's see.

Soooooo, that's why I laughed.

I think people having SCV in the bottom quarter of the top 12 is suss. Spirit only dropped a couple spots after taking a year off and SCV is still SCV with a great staff. There's plenty of talent that will want to work with that staff. 

A drop for Regiment is possible IMO. They ultimately landed in 7th this year due to the lack of complexity in their program. They must up that complexity if they want to improve. Sometimes, you have drop in placement to really move up the rankings. Their show last year was one of my favorites and brilliantly designed. BUT, it didn't have the complexity to run with Cadets and Mandarins. 

Of course, we all could be wrong but I thought the OP's predictions were the most realistic of any I have seen on here.

[Sutasaurus]

30 minutes ago, Vuitton said:

I think people having SCV in the bottom quarter of the top 12 is suss. Spirit only dropped a couple spots after taking a year off and SCV is still SCV with a great staff. There's plenty of talent that will want to work with that staff. 

A drop for Regiment is possible IMO. They ultimately landed in 7th this year due to the lack of complexity in their program. They must up that complexity if they want to improve. Sometimes, you have drop in placement to really move up the rankings. Their show last year was one of my favorites and brilliantly designed. BUT, it didn't have the complexity to run with Cadets and Mandarins. 

Of course, we all could be wrong but I thought the OP's predictions were the most realistic of any I have seen on here.

Um, no. Regiment is working hard on forward momentum. Look at the 2023 season. It laid the groundwork for modernization that supports said forward motion. Don’t count them out of the hunt just yet.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Sutasaurus

[corps8294]

What does "suss" mean?