Before the season ever started, the 1987 Cavaliers "knew" that it was their year. Everything seemed to be in place: the musical program, the drill, the talent to take it all, including a large number of members marching their last, "age-out" year. The corps started out by going undefeated in Drum Corps Midwest (DCM), then won their first few DCI shows. The Cavaliers seemed to be "on a roll" as they went to Drums Along the Rockies in Denver, where they crashed back to earth and finished in third place, far behind the Santa Clara Vanguard and the Blue Devils (BD) on the score sheets. The Blue Devils' members even taunted that the Cavaliers could/would "never" beat them. They also finished in third at DCI South in Birmingham (behind Blue Devils and Phantom Regiment) and at the rain-shortened DCI Midwest in St. Louis (behind Santa Clara and the Garfield Cadets). After semifinals at the DCI Championships in Madison, The Cavaliers were behind all four corps that had beaten them earlier, with Garfield in first, followed by SCV, Phantom, and BD. Before their Finals performance, corps director Adolph DeGrauwe told the corps to just go out and play for each other, and they did just that, passing the Regiment and the same Blue Devils who had taunted them in Denver, and finished in third place. It was not the expected championship, but it was certainly better than it could have been.