Tournaments
HTHS Academic Team goes to a few tournaments each month, usually on Saturdays. Parent volunteers transport players to schools in the region. Depending on demand and field size, we often send multiple teams to tournaments to allow as many players a chance to gain experience on the buzzer as possible.
Tournament Format
Regional tournaments are usually held in two phases. Typically, there is the "prelim" phase in the morning, where the field is broken into brackets of 4-6 teams and teams play a round-robin format. Teams are typically seeded by previous performances. In the prelims, you will play teams of varying difficulty. Individual scoring prizes may be given out at the conclusion of prelim games to the players with the highest points per game.
The next phase is the "playoffs" phase, where the top few teams from each prelim bracket are re-bracketed into brackets of teams of roughly the same level. This phase is also round robin, and lasts for 4-6 rounds depending on tournament size. In the end, there may a finals round, which pits the top two teams in the playoffs against each other to determine the winner.
The next phase is the "playoffs" phase, where the top few teams from each prelim bracket are re-bracketed into brackets of teams of roughly the same level. This phase is also round robin, and lasts for 4-6 rounds depending on tournament size. In the end, there may a finals round, which pits the top two teams in the playoffs against each other to determine the winner.
National Tournaments
Consistent high performance during the regular season is rewarded with a chance to attend one (or both) of the two major national championships, NAQT's HSNCT and PACE's NSC, which are typically held in Atlanta and Chicago, respectively. Although both are prestigious, each has its own atmosphere, question styles, and field sizes, among other differences.
Tournament
Field Format Qualifying Timing Scoring Tiebreaks |
NAQT HSNCT
Larger, with 256 or 272 teams 10 prelim games in 16 rounds, then double elimination playoffs Need 6-4 record or better to advance to playoffs Uses power-matching card system so winner of each match gets card closer to 1 Top 15% at NAQT tournaments 9-minute halves for 18-minute matches, or whenever all 24 questions are read 2 seconds to answer after buzzing in 1 time-out per round 15 point powers -5 negs No bouncebacks Three full tossup/bonus cycles are played If still tied, sudden death tossups are read until score changes Seeding is done by PPG |
PACE NSC
Smaller, with a field cap of about 96 teams Prelim, playoff and super playoff brackets Top 2 in each round-robin prelim bracket goes to top tier playoff bracket 15 games guaranteed, more for top super playoff bracket Top 15%, 20%, or 25% at all tournaments, depending on affiliation. Untimed rounds of 20 tossups and 20 bonuses 5 seconds after buzzing in to answer, 5 seconds on bonuses, 2 seconds on bouncebacks 1 time-out per round 20 point powers No penalties on negs 10 point bouncebacks Three full tossup/bonus cycles are played If still tied, sudden death tossups are read until one team answers correctly Ties in record for championship contention will be played off, otherwise, ties are broken by PPG. |