Remembering the Alamo(dome)
Does winning in San Antonio guarantee a World Championship? A look back at the corps to have won both shows in the past ten seasons
It’s no secret that every drum corps circles the Southwestern Championship in San Antonio as one of the most important shows of the season every year a new schedule is released. Since DCI first hosted an event in the city in 1998, the regional has been scheduled exactly three weeks before World Championships Finals nearly every year.
Often, the show is the first time in the season (and in the case of 2022, the only time before finals weekend) that every World Class corps performs at the same stadium, on the same day, with the same judging panel. It serves as an honest, midseason “heat check” for corps and fans alike. A lot of burning questions from the weeks leading up are answered such as which corps are still in contention for a championship and which corps are still battling for a place in finals.
It’s common knowledge that the corps that finish in the top three in San Antonio often finish in a similar spot at finals three weeks later. In fact, the infamous underdog story of 2008 Phantom Regiment is the only corps to have finished lower than third in San Antonio and still go on to win a championship. And while the corps that wins San Antonio stands a good shot of winning finals, in the past ten competitive seasons, only six corps have won both shows in the same season - and we’re here to flashback and reminisce about the groups that accomplished the feat. Off we go…
2018 Santa Clara Vanguard - 92.325
The Bluecoats won the last Southwestern Championship in 2019 but went on to finish second at finals, meaning we have to rewind four years to 2018 Santa Clara Vanguard, the last corps to win finals and in San Antonio. Vanguard came into the event on a hot streak, having not lost a show since June 29. In Katy the night before, they won in the first big matchup of the top 6, besting second place Bluecoats by nearly a point. They went on to win the Southwestern Championship by 1.35, the largest winning spread at the show since Blue Devils won by 1.65 nearly a decade earlier in 2010.
Vanguard made a bit of history in the victory. In the 20 years that DCI hosted an event in San Antonio, it was the first win in the Alamodome in the corps’ history. Additionally their winning score of 92.325 was only the fourth time ever that a corps broke 92 in San Antonio, and the first time since 2010. Vanguard would continue their winning streak the rest of the season, eventually win the 2018 World Championship with a final score of 98.625, their first championship in 19 years.
2017 Blue Devils - 90.1
With the Blue Devils having won five championships in the past ten seasons, it should be no surprise that their name appears more than a couple of times on this list. The Concord-based corps last won San Antonio and finals in the same season in 2017, winning in the Alamadome that year with a score of 90.1.
They bested second place Vanguard by less than half a point, though that was far from the closest spread between the two corps; a week later, Blue Devils beat SCV by a tenth six days later in Nashville and by only 0.0125 a day after that in Powder Springs, GA. Despite the close spreads, Blue Devils finished the season undefeated, en route to their 18th championship.
2016 Bluecoats - 87.0625
The 2016 Bluecoats are the next corps on our list, and like 2018 Vanguard, won the Southwestern Championship for the first time ever in corps history that season. The Bluecoats began the season on a 13-show winning streak until their first match-up against the Blue Devils six days earlier in DeKalb, IL, where they took second. Bluecoats would go on to lose again the next night in Missouri and later in the week to Crown before retaking the lead from both corps in Houston the day before San Antonio.
While top tier corps tend to break 90 for the first time at San Antonio, or even a few days before, Bluecoats won in the Alamodome with a score of only 87.0625, the lowest winning score in San Antonio history. After San Antonio, the Bluecoats lost against the Blue Devils two nights later in Missouri. However, it would be their last second place finish of the season; they ended the year on a 12 show winning streak, winning their first title in corps history three weeks later.
2014 Blue Devils - 91.65
The 2014 Blue Devils will forever be remembered as the corps to set the record breaking score of 99.625, a number that perhaps will never be surpassed. Despite this accomplishment, Blue Devils won San Antonio that season with a score of 91.65, only the seventh highest winning score in San Antonio history, and less than seven tenths over second place Cadets. The Blue Devils really put their foot on the gas after this win though, winning every show by a minimum of 1.4 for the rest of the season afterwards.
The corps was also known for posting a perfect score in both General Effect and Visual at finals. Even three weeks before finals, it was clear that they were trending in the right direction, receiving Box 5 scores from nine out of eleven judges and placing lower than first in only three captions.
2012 Blue Devils - 90.4
The early 2010s were unique for the DCI tour structure in that for a few years, a regional was hosted in Minneapolis the week before San Antonio with most World Class corps in attendance. Such an occurrence happened in 2012, the next year that Blue Devils once again won both San Antonio and finals. Similar to 2017 and 2014, Blue Devils once again entered San Antonio undefeated and finished the season undefeated with a championship. They beat second place Carolina Crown by 0.85 with a 90.4, becoming the first corps to break 90 in the 2012 season in doing so.
The 2012 Blue Devils would continue to remain undefeated after San Antonio, maintaining a steady lead of about a point over Carolina Crown. Their closest run-in came eight days later when they beat Crown by only two tenths at Crown’s home show in South Carolina. However, come finals week, Blue Devils won all three nights by an average margin of about 1.1, winning their 15th championship with a final score of 98.7.
2010 Blue Devils - 92.3
Our final corps on the list is the 2010 Blue Devils. The Southwestern Championship that year was unique in that DCI was forced to move the regional to D.W. Rutledge Stadium in nearby Converse that year due to a scheduling conflict at the Alamodome. With a smaller venue, DCI opted to split the show into two days a la Allentown style.
When it was all said and done, Blue Devils came away on top at the end of the weekend after scoring a 92.3, the highest score between the two shows. They definitely benefited from how the corps were split between the two days; with them being the only top 5 corps to perform on Saturday, they handily won their show, beating second place Santa Clara Vanguard by nearly five points. And just like the aforementioned Blue Devils corps in this article, they too would remain undefeated for the rest of the season, winning the 2010 World Championship with a final score of 98.9.
So where will this year’s Southwestern Championship end up? Blue Devils have been riding a season-long winning streak up to this point and seem to be favorites to win again on Saturday. But trailing right behind them are Carolina Crown, Boston Crusaders, and Bluecoats - all who are having strong seasons competitively and could cause an upset. Will this year’s winner in San Antonio join the list above by winning a World Championship in three weeks? Only time will tell as the second half of the 2022 DCI season shakes out!