TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE

1.  Tournaments are divided into two segments a Varsity tournament, and a J/V tournament. Only 1 Varsity Team may participate per school, but schools may enter an unlimited number of J/V teams in the J/V team tournament.

2. All schools may attend any regional tournament, but only those teams from the region may win the region. All other schools earn at large  points.  One “at-large” tournament will be held in the spring after all the other tournaments have been played. The school with the best finish (not already having won a regional tournament), will receive a bid to the state tournament.

3. Teams that play in the Varsity tournament are eligible to earn points toward the state tournament seeding. If the team is located in the region that is being contested, winning the region will mean an automatic berth in the state tournament.

4. Teams that play in the J/V Team tournament are not eligible to earn points. There will be an award for the Best J/V finisher at that tournament. J/V tournaments are played “at-large” at every tournament, with no geographic regions.

5. A school may ask to play in the J/V bracket for the year if they feel their team is not yet up to the level of Varsity competition. They cannot move from J/V to Varsity mid-year. They can win J/V tournaments. There will also be an award at the end of the season for the J/V team that wins the most matches over the course of the year.

6. Tournaments are played in 10 rounds of 10 minutes each. The team (from the region) with the best record at the end of the tournament wins. The team with the best record may not win the region if they are not from that geographic region, but those points will count toward at large points. (Ex. Smith School finishes the tournament 9-1, but is not from the region. Jones School, at 8-2 has the best record from the teams in the region, and so is the winner. Smith School earns 9 at large points)

7. A team qualifies for the state tournament if they a) win the tournament for their region, b) wins the at-large tournament in the spring, or c) finishes in the top three at-large point totals. Teams must attend at least TWO tournaments to qualify for the state tournament. If a team wins a region but does not attend a second tournament, the state tournament bid will go to the 2nd place team.

Tournament Round Robin Grids: Quiz Bowl Round Configurations

RULES FOR INDIVIDUAL MATCHES

1.  The quiz master will read the question.

2.  The first person to buzz will answer the question immediately after being recognized by the judge.  This is to be done without consultation.

3.  If the judge is unsure who “buzzed” first, the question will be thrown out.

4.  If a teammate blurts out any answer before the player recognized has a chance to answer, the team will not be awarded a point and the other team will have a chance to discuss and answer the question.

5.  If the first recognized player has the correct answer, the team will be awarded one point.

6.  If the first person to buzz is wrong, the other team will have a chance to  discuss and answer the question.

7.  The team captain should give the team’s answer.  If the answer is correct, the team will be awarded one point.

8.  The quiz master will give the team about 3-5 seconds to answer.  If there is still no answer, the quiz master may count down on her fingers, 5-4-3-2-1, after which no points will be awarded.  The quiz master will then go on to the next question.

9.  If there is a question about the accuracy of an answer, the issue will be discussed among participants before the next question is read.  If the issue cannot be resolved amicably, the quiz master is the absolute authority and will refer to the printed answer for reference in his/her decision.

10.  If neither team buzzes, the quiz master will count down on his hand, 5-4-3-2-1 after which he will proceed to the next question.

11. When time is sounded at the end of the match, the quiz master may finish the question, but not begin another question unless there is a tie.

12.  The team with the most points will be declared the winner.  In the event of a tie, questions will be asked until the tie is broken.  There should be no ties.