Pekin
A–Although we don’t have any scores of Oblong from last year, we still think they will pull out a win. Our Pick: Oblong
AA–Taking a shot in the dark, we are going to say Olympia here. Even going as far as saying they will win all the captions as well. Our Pick: Olympia
AAA-With a history of being top notch at the beginning of the season (they beat IVC at Pontiac last year) we think should easily go to Normal West. Our Pick: Normal West
AAAA-The top two spots here will be Morton and United Township. The difference between them will be really close. But with Morton beating UT by 5.5 points is just too hard to overlook, even if they were the host band. Our Pick: Morton
GC-This GC winner of this competition should be the AAAA winner, and with us giving the tip to Morton, they should get GC as well. Our Pick: Morton

Danville
A-There are only 2 returning bands to Class A from last year. Last year’s winner, Watseka, is in 2A. Based on that, the most likely band to win 1A is Bemont, as they received 2nd last year, over 6 points above Westville. Our Pick: Bemont
AA-There are 4 bands in 2A, and the strongest being Robinson. Robinson coming off strong performances last week should make them the likely candidate for 2A. Our Pick: Robinson
AAA-Monticello and Morton are the only bands in 3A, and based of scores from last week’s Pumpkin Festival (even though Morton was the host), it;s an easy choice. Our pick: Morton
GC-Morton should hands down win GC. Our Pick: Morton

Pontiac Indian Showdown
A-The Pontiac Indian Showdown will open up with a battle of two decent bands that will duke it out for the A Class title. However, Paxton-Buckley-Loda is going to ride their win at Hoopeston last weekend into another title this weekend. Our pick: Paxton-Buckley-Loda
AA-Streator opened up last weekend with a win in parade, but didn’t fare so well in field. La Salle-Peru and Marengo both open their 2007 seasons this weekend. We predict that Marengo will come out strong and surprise everyone with their show about the Moody Blues. Our pick: Marengo
AAA-Washington came out last weekend and quite frankly, surprised a lot of people with their sound last weekend. We haven’t heard much from the Marching Grey Ghosts from IVC yet nor have we heard anything from Herscher yet. We predict that the band from IVC will open their season strong with a win leading into ISU in a couple of weeks. Our Pick: IVC
AAAA-One band has consistently dominated the competition in this class. This year should be no different. Our pick: Marian Catholic
GC-The Pontiac Indian Showdown is entering it’s fourth year of existence. One band has won it the past three years. This year will be no different. Our pick: Marian Catholic

Wheaton North
A-This class is an interesting class as well. 6 bands, several of which don’t really compete in the Illinois circuit. Our pick: Sycamore
AA-This is also a pretty decent class. 5 bands are competing in this class. One is having somewhat of a resurgent season. Our pick: Wheaton Warrenville South
AAA-This class comes down to being a dogfight for second place. This is a fairly decent class, with Naperville Central, Downers Grove South, Lemont and Lake Park all competing. Lemont, DGS, and Naperville Central will fight for second here. Our pick: Lake Park
GC-With the winning of AAA, Lake Park should win grand champion here. Our pick: Lake Park

Newton
Due to not having a schedule posted or having received a schedule, we cannot speculate on this competition.

Bands of America Oxford Regional
The first few regionals of the Bands of America season are always somewhat difficult to predict. Not knowing what some of the bands have to offer, occasionally the predictors have to go on gut instinct and past placements at regionals. This regional is fairly stacked. With 5 past Grand National finalists and 3 National champions, this contest should be fairly stacked near the top. Lawrence Central (Indianapolis, IN) is performing a patriotic show this season, set to the music of Morton Gould. Center Grove (Greenwood, IN) is performing a show entitled “A Fall From Grace”, and from what we have seen from videos, is going back to the Center Grove of old. Prospect is performing a melange of marches, including Symphonic Metamorphosis by Paul Hindemith. The Centerville Jazz Band (Centerville, OH) is performing a show of all original music called “Wired” that is reminiscent of the Cavaliers 2006 championship show “Machine.” Rounding out the top 5 is going to be the Bellbrook High School Marching Band from Bellbrook, OH. Performing an all original show called “Step-Up,” they should definitely “step-up” from where they were at Grand Nationals last season. Top 5 will be: Lawrence Central, Center Grove, Prospect, Centerville, and Bellbrook. Our pick: Lawrence Central