GEM's Crystal Ball: 2022 DCI Week 4 Finals Predictions
Everything can change in one night in DCI. This past week is a reminder. Let's get to it.
The Blue Devils announced themselves as the corps to beat in DCI on Tuesday night. An almost two-point victory over their nearest competitor was more than enough to keep the corps from Concord at the top of the rankings for the fourth consecutive week.
Carolina Crown, Bluecoats, Boston Crusaders, and Santa Clara Vanguard round out the top five. Meanwhile, a new group enters the Top 15!
GEM writers and contributors were asked to rank the top 15 competing corps, regardless of class, based on where they predicted the corps would end up on Saturday night, August 14, 2022.
Beginning this week, we devised a new system that determines how we aggregate and determine our rankings, similar to how the NCAA publishes top 25 rankings for various collegiate sports. With this system, each corps receives points from voters inverse of placement. More specifically, each corps receives 15 points for each first-place vote, 14 points for each second-place vote, 13 points for each third-place vote, and so on. Rankings are then determined by the total number of points each corps received. 24 voters participated in our rankings this week, so the maximum number of points a corps could receive is 360 (15 points x 24 voters). With this new system, votes are appropriately weighted to better aggregate rankings and show variation in how voters voted more easily. For example, if two or more corps score closely in a total number of points, it shows variation by our voters and where they believe that group of corps will end up.
Voters also picked which corps they thought would win each of the five caption performance awards.
1. Blue Devils (66.7% first-place votes; 349 total points)
Previous Ranking: 1 ↔
In their first meeting against Carolina Crown, Bluecoats, and Boston Crusaders, the Blue Devils took first place with a score of 89.200, taking all captions except for Color Guard and Percussion at DCI Broken Arrow.
2. Carolina Crown (29.2% first-place votes; 328 total points)
Previous Ranking: 3 ↑
Carolina Crown placed second overall at DCI Broken Arrow with a score of 87.500. The corps placed third and fourth in General Effect (third overall), fifth in Percussion, and lost Brass for the first time this season placing second behind Blue Devils.
3. Bluecoats (4.2% first-place votes; 310 total points)
Previous Ranking: 2 ↓
Bluecoats placed third overall at DCI Broken Arrow with a score of 87.175. The corps placed fourth and second in General Effect (2nd overall) and fifth in Overall Music.
4. Boston Crusaders (309 total points)
Previous Ranking: 4 ↔
Boston Crusaders placed fourth overall at DCI Broken Arrow with a score of 86.800, beating the Santa Clara Vanguard for the first time in fifteen years. The corps placed first in Color Guard and second in Percussion.
5. Santa Clara Vanguard (258 total points)
Previous Ranking: 5 ↔
Santa Clara Vanguard placed fifth overall at DCI Broken Arrow with a score of 85.750. The four-time defending winner of the Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award, SCV took the Percussion caption over Boston Crusaders by .300.
6. Blue Stars (205 total points)
Previous Ranking: 7 ↑
Blue Stars placed sixth overall at DCI Broken Arrow with a score of 82.600. The corps previously placed first at Brass Impact in Olathe, KS beating The Cavaliers for the first time since August 18, 1979.
7. The Cadets (204 total points)
Previous Ranking: 9 ↑
The Cadets last competed at DCI Memphis scoring an 82.050 and placing third overall.
8. The Cavaliers (197 total points)
Previous Ranking: 6 ↓
After performing standstill performances in Dubuque, IA, Dekalb, IL, and La Crosse, WI, The Cavaliers returned to competitive action at Brass Impact on July 18th and DCI Broken Arrow on July 19th. The corps placed seventh overall in Broken Arrow with a score of 80.600.
9. Mandarins (183 total points)
Previous Ranking: 8 ↓
Mandarins placed first overall and swept all captions at West Texas Drums in Canyon, TX on July 18th with a score of 81.100.
10. Phantom Regiment (136 total points)
Previous Ranking: 10 ↔
Phantom Regiment placed second overall at Brass Impact with a score of 80.450 tying with The Cavaliers. The corps placed second in General Effect and third in both Overall Visual and Music.
11. Blue Knights (112 total points)
Previous Ranking: 12 ↑
Blue Knights placed eighth overall at DCI Broken Arrow with a score of 77.750.
12. Crossmen (107 total points)
Previous Ranking: 11 ↓
Crossmen last competed at DCI Memphis scoring a 75.90 and placing fourth overall.
13. Colts (92 total points)
Previous Ranking: 14 ↑
Colts placed fourth overall at Brass Impact with a score of 77.400 and placed second in the Percussion caption.
14. Madison Scouts (38 total points)
Previous Ranking: 13 ↓
Madison Scouts placed fifth overall at Brass Impact with a score of 73.750.
15. Troopers (27 total points)
Previous Ranking: NR ↑
Troopers placed third overall with a score of 74.40. The corps placed second in Percussion and sixth in Brass at West Texas Drums in Canyon, TX on July 18th.
Donald Angelica Best General Effect Award
Tie: Blue Devils & Carolina Crown (75% first-place votes)
Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award
Boston Crusaders (62.5% first-place votes)
John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award
Blue Devils (70.8% first-place votes)
George Zingali Best Color Guard Performance Award
Boston Crusaders (75% first-place votes)
Jim Ott Best Brass Performance Award
Carolina Crown (79% first-place votes)