U of I weekend is now upon us.  We have 4 in-state competitions, and 2 out of state Bands of America competitions that a slew of bands are competing in.  Best of luck to all bands!

Naperville Central Marching Classic: Naperville, IL

Class A: This class will come down to either Wheaton North or Wheaton Warrenville South,  and this could be a preview of the battle for 3rd or 4th place in 5A at ISU next week.  We’ll take Wheaton North to win.

Class AA: This class will come down to either United Township, or Lockport.  Lockport had a fairly good showing last week at Lincoln-Way, and United Township had a great showing at Metamora.  This class is tough to pick.  Our pick: United Township

Class AAA: Another tough pick.  Lincoln-Way North turned a lot of heads in Ypsilanti last week, as they placed 2nd in Class AAA, and 5th overall.  They’re making a very compelling argument for Class 4A at ISU.  Lincoln-Way Central could take this class for them, but we think LWN has more momentum going into ISU.  Our pick: Lincoln-Way North

Grand Champion: Lincoln-Way North

Downers Grove South Mustang Music Bowl: Downers Grove, IL

Class A: Brother Rice/St. Laurence

Class AA: United Township and Eureka meet up here.  This could very well be a preview of 2 class champions from ISU.  We think United Township will take a very slim victory.

Class AAA: This will be a very, very interesting class.  Lincoln-Ways East and Central and Lake Park in the same class.   This class could be decided by a coin flip.  It will be very close between LWE and Lake Park, but with music and visual each only being 20% of the score, and Auxiliary and Percussion being factored into the final score, we think Lake Park will take this class.

Illini Band Festival: Champaign, IL

Class C: The polls believe Tri-Valley will win this class, and we agree with them.

Class B: Macomb received 8 votes to IVC’s 5 for this class.  We agree here as well.

Class D/C/B Champion: Macomb

Class A: This class has a history of being utterly unpredictable, such as last year, with Dunlap beating Morton.  Bloomington, Effingham, Limestone, Washington and Dunlap all have a realistic shot at this class.  We’re going to go against the boards (which predicted Bloomington), and predict Limestone to win this class.

Class AA: This class has gotten more interesting in recent years.  John Hersey actually won the field in 2006, but they did not perform in parade.  Hersey performed in parade last year and won, but Prospect had just enough of a victory in the field competition to hold Hersey off for the Governor’s Trophy.  We think Prospect will win again this year.

Governor’s Trophy A/AA: This could be interesting.  It all comes down to how much of a lead a band has after the field competition.  If Prospect wins field and Hersey wins Parade, this could be down to the wire.  Remember, the show score is multiplied by 3, then the parade is added to it.  We’ll see what happens.  Our pick: Prospect