Top 30 Rankings — Nov. 6, 2018 (Week 8)


Top 30 Rankings — Nov. 6, 2018 (Week 8)

San Antonio always manages to completely scramble our rankings. Whatever we expect heading into San Antonio tends to be nowhere near close to the actual results produced. It's never surprising, that's just what happens when you have such a large number of exceptional groups at a single competition.

Flower Mound performs at the San Antonio Super Regional on Nov. 3, 2018, at the Alamodome. The band was named super regional champion. // Photo by Jeremiah Wooten.
Super Regional champion Flower Mound slid up to third place after earning their third San Antonio championship in just four years. Second-place Ronald Reagan retained their fifth place spot in the rankings after earning the silver medal. Vista Ridge's rather historic season kept them near the top of the rankings. Westlake and LD Bell were two surprises that earned spots in finals and returned to this week's Top 30.

Outside of Texas, Ayala and Vista Murrieta went head-to-head in Southern California. After trailing Vista Murrieta most of the season in local competitions, Ayala made a decisive leap ahead and finished first in both prelims and finals. Ayala also swept captions in both rounds. This strong showing pushed them back into the rankings and slid Vista Murrieta just outside.

As we prepare for Grand Nationals this weekend, you'll notice only 12 groups in the Top 30 are even attending Grand Nats, which may give you a glimpse of our expected finalists. When you include the first out and next 10, that brings the total to only 15 groups that seem in the best position to make finals. Five of those groups have never made national finals before.

The previous week's rankings are in parenthesis. Read about how we determine rankings.
  1. Tarpon Springs H.S., FL (1)
  2. Broken Arrow H.S., OK (2)
  3. Flower Mound H.S., TX (7)
  4. Carmel H.S., IN (3)
  5. Ronald Reagan H.S., TX (5)
  6. Avon H.S., IN (4)
  7. Hebron H.S., TX (8)
  8. Vista Ridge H.S., TX (9)
  9. Blue Springs H.S., MO (10)
  10. Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S., TX (6)
  11. Leander H.S., TX (12)
  12. Vandegrift H.S., TX (11)
  13. Wando H.S., SC (14)
  14. The Woodlands H.S., TX (13)
  15. Keller H.S., TX (17)
  16. Dobyns-Bennett H.S., TN (16)
  17. Marcus H.S., TX (21)
  18. Cedar Ridge H.S., TX (23)
  19. Homestead H.S., IN (19)
  20. Jenks H.S., OK (20)
  21. Hendrickson H.S., TX (26)
  22. Park Vista H.S., FL (22)
  23. James Bowie H.S., TX (15)
  24. Westlake H.S., TX (Unranked)
  25. William Mason H.S., OH (24)
  26. O'Fallon Township H.S., IL (25)
  27. LD Bell H.S., TX (Next 10)
  28. Lincoln-Way H.S., IL (27)
  29. Ayala H.S., CA (First Out)
  30. Marian Catholic H.S., IL (29)
First Out: Harrison H.S., GA (28)

Next 10, in alphabetical order: Cedar Park (TX), Dripping Springs (TX), Fishers (IN), Franklin (TN), Prosper (TX), Stoneman Douglas (FL), Timber Creek (TX), Union (OK), Vista Murrieta (CA), and Waxahachie (TX).