{"id":22,"date":"2017-08-25T20:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T20:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/halftimeglory.com\/?p=22"},"modified":"2023-07-03T06:36:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T06:36:03","slug":"the-vfts-band-heads-hbcu-pre-season-top-10-for-2017-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/halftimeglory.com\/?p=22","title":{"rendered":"The VFTS Band-Head’s HBCU Pre-Season Top 10 for 2017-18"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nAhhhh…August.<\/p>\n

The 8th month in the calendar year is a joyous time for bandheads. Besides the steady pitter-patter of combat boots, Drum Major whistles blaring, and freshman complaining about laps and heat, it’s a time of renewal. It’s a time of hard work and lofty expectations for HBCU programs across the country. From Baton Rouge to Baltimore, the routine for getting ready for the upcoming season is pretty much the same.<\/p>\n

Of course, everybody has an opinion about who’s gonna do what this season. Our friends over at TSPN Sports have already done their own ‘interesting’ pre-season poll<\/a> for the upcoming season. BTW, shout-out to Kenn Rashad and the folks over at TSPN for being one of the real online bastions for coverage of HBCU Sports and Culture. I may not necessarily AGREE with this year’s polling, but you gotta respect how long the folks over there have been on the grind. Respect! That being said, VFTS doesn’t make a habit of awarding participation trophies, nor do we put fluff in our prognostications about the bands that will (or won’t ) show out during the season. There’s no dead weight or coat-tail riding around these parts, either.<\/p>\n

So without further adieu, here’s the VFTS Band-Head’s Pre-Season top 10 for the upcoming year:<\/p>\n

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\n1-t) THE HUMAN JUKEBOX<\/b> – (Southern University)<\/div>\n
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\nArguably the most consistent band program (among HBCU’s) in the last 2 decades. Whether you like their template or not, there’s no dispute that what they do works year-in, year-out. IJS, when was the last time this program has had a ‘down’ year? Ill sound concept? Check…Consistent drill execution? check…Marketing and Branding of the Program? Check with an exclamation point…The bottom line is that Nathan Haymer and his talented staff haven’t missed a beat, which means the ‘S’ will be the cream of the SWAC ‘elite’…again.<\/div>\n
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\n1-t) THE ARISTOCRAT OF BANDS<\/b> – (Tennessee State University)<\/div>\n

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\nIf last year’s “Welcome Back, Crats” performance at the 2016 Queen City Battle of the bands didn’t hip you to the fact that the Aristocrat program is back among the elite, This year’s edition will go a long way to solidifying that notion. The Crats built off of last year’s monster season by bringing in an equally strong freshman class to the program. From the looks of this year’s pre-season merge, The Crats may have even MORE momentum than they did last season.<\/div>\n
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