Well ILMarching fans, its that time again: competition season. As in previous seasons (except last year), we are going to try and do predictions for competitions each weekend. We realized that this was one of the things on the site that a lot of people liked, so we are going to dedicate some time to it. Unlike previous years, we are going to run predictions for class winners as well as Grand Champions for every show. Before we would only do grand champions except for U of I and ISU. We hope you all enjoy the predictions this year, and we wish everyone the best of luck this season. And without further adieu, the predictions.

• Naperville Central Marching Festival
  A -This could turn out to be a tiring day for Wheaton North. First, performing at Lake Park, then performing at Naperville Central, and then maybe again at Lake Park if they make the night show. Sandwich’s scores are going to suffer from being first. Oak Lawn does not have what it takes to overtake Wheaton North. Our pick: Wheaton North.
  AA-Out of the three competing bands, Fremd is our best guess. Our pick: Fremd
  AAA-This will be a pretty interesting class to watch. 5 bands, all 5 of which are usually quiet on the Illinois marching scene. Our pick: A.A. Stagg
  AAAA– Of all the classes at the Naperville show, this one is easiest to predict. Our pick: Marian Catholic

  GC-With their winning of AAAA, Marian will also win Grand Champion in the inaugural year of this contest. Our pick: Marian Catholic.
  

• Morton Pumpkin Festival Marching Invitational
  Parade:
  A – Last year, Olympia did well in parade, beating many bands larger then them, so they seem to be the logical choice here, but look for Pekin to give a fight. Our Pick: Olympia
  AA – Only three of the AA bands are competing in the parade this year. Based on previous success of Dunlap (beating Galesburg last year at Washington), this tipped our choice. Our Pick: Dunlap
  AAA – While there are a lot of fantastic bands in AAA, one band sticks out as always being stellar in Parade: Our Pick: Galesburg

  Field:
  A – For A field, it is a little tricky. Most of the bands are evenly matched, especially this early in the season. But we will stick with last years A winner. Our Pick: Pekin
  AA – AA if going to be the closest of the entire competition. With University, Geneseo, Eureka, and Dunlap fighting for the top four spots, this class will definately be amazing. Our Pick: Geneseo
  AAA – Downers Grove South and UT will most likely battle for top spot in AAA Field, but UT most likely has the edge. Our Pick: United Township

  GC – With Galesburg’s usually high parade score, and the fact that UT or DGS are doing parade, Grand Champion should go to Galesburg. Our Pick: Galesburg

• Metro East Marching Classic
  A – This is going to be an interesting class for sure. Newton will be a very close second, and Wesclin will show potential, but their show will not be up to their potential as of yet. Mater Dei will have an off performance at Belleville East, then come out here and have an outstanding performance. We believe that Mater Dei will win with a decent visual program that will enhance their music. Our pick: Mater Dei
  AA– St. Charles West has a new director this year, but they will probably end up winning Class AA because they still have a strong core of seniors and juniors from the previous year leading the pack. St. Charles West typically plays very challenging music fairly well, coupled with a difficult visual program. Our pick: St. Charles West
  AAA – Belleville East will probably win the competition with the highest overall score. This program has had upswings and downswings over the years, and it looks like they’re going to begin the year strong with a decent performance and overall score. They will probably take the music caption. Jefferson City will probably follow closely behind and capture the overall percussion and color guard captions. Their scoring will be very balanced, but not enough to overtake Belleville East. Collinsville will follow behind Jeff City with a decent performance which will show a lot of promise. Francis Howell Central will follow behind Collinsville, and Alton will follow behind Francis Howell Central. Our pick: Belleville East

  GC-With Belleville East winning class AAA, we think they’re the odds on favorite to win this title. Our pick: Belleville East

• Lake Park Lancer Joust:
  AA– It is always a treat to see LaPorte at the Lancer Joust. They are an outstanding addition to this lineup year in and year out. Performing the music of Cirque du Soleli’s “Quidam,” they should be able to win their class hands down. Our pick: LaPorte
  AAA– AAA is going to be a lot closer than AA. Prospect usually does really well at this show. The drill of Pete Weber will give them great visual scores here. LWE’s music is dominant, but we’re sure that the music will be excellent as well, even though there has been no official announcement of show theme and repertoire. Our pick: Prospect

  GC– Prospect’s successes from the day show will carry over into the night show. Lincoln Way East will give them a run for their money for grand champion, but this early on, we give the nod to Prospect. Our pick: Prospect

• Belleville East Marching Invitational
  A – Our Pick: Wesclin
  AA – One band will come out and inform the audience that they have come out completely ready to play. Our pick: Collinsville.
  AAA – Two bands will split captions here and make this class quite interesting. Lindbergh and O’Fallon will be neck and neck, but O’Fallon will eke out the win. Our pick: O’Fallon

  GC – Winning AAA will also allow O’Fallon to win Grand Champion here. Our pick: O’Fallon

• Murphysboro:
  A – This class is tough to pick, especially this early in the season, but we are going with: Our Pick: Anna-Jonesboro
  AA – Pinckneyville’s large band size (50 larger than the next closest in class) will help them wow the judges and overcome the first performance slot. Our Pick: Pinckneyville
  AAA – Waterloo’s last-in-class performance may give them a big advantage, but Carbondale traditionally has a strong unit.Our pick: Carbondale
  AAAA – Some great bands in this class. We’re going to go with in-staters, but be sure to catch Cape Girardeau. Our pick: Edwardsville