I will wade into this one with the risk of stirring the pot a little more.The direction you take really depends on where you want to go and how much money you would like to spend. The rough list below is in order of increasing cost. Of course there will be outliers or combos that make more or less than these rough figures. This is purely a general guide from my perspective.

550-650 Edelbrocks
650-750 SR's or B1BS
700-800 440-1
800-900 572-13
850-950 B1 original
850-1000 B1-MC
950-1150 Predator


The points I am making here is that there is potentially alot of overlap between the engines built with the different heads. But there are some good choices available depending on what power level you are targeting. However if you are interested in a competitive top sportsman combination there really is no viable alternative at this time if you want to qualify in the top half of the field and run consistent. The 99 makes some good hp and while suitable for comp not so useful for a T/S deal with a peaky powerband.
Naturally aspirated if you want big power time to give up brand loyalty and move on to many good higher output alternatives.
Flame away !