HSNCT qualification policy for single-elim playoffs

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Matt Weiner
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HSNCT qualification policy for single-elim playoffs

Post by Matt Weiner »

Hey, I've seen a couple of large tournaments this year announce that they would use single-elimination playoffs for the sole purpose of creating a large tie for 5th and/or 9th place and thus qualifying more teams for the HSNCT. I think that this sort of collusion among teams and hosts is against the spirit of the qualification rules. Furthermore, by allowing ties to qualify all involved teams, NAQT has created a perverse incentive to use single-elimination playoffs even when time/staff/packet constraints do not make them necessary.

I think that NAQT should change its policy for qualification out of single-elimination playoffs in one of the following ways:
1) Qualifying only the actual rounded 15% number even in ties, and requiring ties to be played off lest their qualification spots be forfeited, or
2) Qualifying the best teams statistically from within the tie

so that there is no longer any incentive to tailor playoff formats to qualification, and those tournaments which do have the resources to do a better playoff system are not discouraged from doing so. What does NAQT think about this?
Matt Weiner
Advisor to Quizbowl at Virginia Commonwealth University / Founder of hsquizbowl.org
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Broad-tailed Grassbird
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Re: HSNCT qualification policy for single-elim playoffs

Post by Broad-tailed Grassbird »

I completely agree with this. If a team is going to spend $50-100 to play, they better get a full day's worth of quiz bowl. Too many teams at tournaments still play 6 rounds of quiz bowl, and then either go home, or get rocked by a regional power (this was literally every quiz bowl tournament I played in high school).
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Captain Sinico
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Re: HSNCT qualification policy for single-elim playoffs

Post by Captain Sinico »

Yeah, that's a good idea.

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Re: HSNCT qualification policy for single-elim playoffs

Post by Charbroil »

Just out of curiousity, do you have any examples of tournaments that have done this publically on the boards? I was just wondering since I haven't seen anything along these lines, though I do agree with your recommendations.
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Re: HSNCT qualification policy for single-elim playoffs

Post by rjaguar3 »

Wheaton North kickoff had 60 teams for 9 qualifiers and had a single-elimination tournament. However, they have always used single-elimination.
Greg (Vanderbilt 2012, Wheaton North 2008)
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Unicolored Jay
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Re: HSNCT qualification policy for single-elim playoffs

Post by Unicolored Jay »

Matt Weiner wrote:Hey, I've seen a couple of large tournaments this year announce that they would use single-elimination playoffs for the sole purpose of creating a large tie for 5th and/or 9th place and thus qualifying more teams for the HSNCT.
I don't think this is really the case of the tournament director using single-elimination playoffs in order to qualify more teams but that continuing traditions of using such playoff procedures makes it that way. I highly doubt anyone is using single-elim in such a manner.

The suggestion is good though; I like it.
Jasper Lee
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