NAQT West (Region 15) SCT @ UCLA, February 6, 2010

[Avram]

The UCLA College Bowl Club and Graduate Academic Tournaments Organization are pleased to announce:

West NAQT Sectional Collegiate Tournament (ACUI Region 15)

DATE: Saturday, February 6, 2010

FORMAT: NAQT rules, timed 10-minute rounds.

There will be separate, parallel tournaments for Division I and Division II teams. In accordance with the NAQT Sectionals rules, there will be three, possibly non-distinct, champions: Division I, Division I Undergraduate, and Division II. There will also be individual awards within each division.

SCHEDULE:
Registration will begin at 8:15 am, and the organizational meeting will be at 8:45 am. Teams should plan to arrive by 8:30 am, so that we can finished registering you in time to brief teams on the schedule, enter rosters, and whatnot for a 9:00 am start for round 1. We will provide basic breakfast items, likely bagels and juice.

Registration will be in Bunche 1209B.

PRICING STRUCTURE:
Base fee = $120 for first team, $100 each subsequent team
Base fee for new schools (* see below) = $80 for first team, $60 for each subsequent team
-$5 for a fully-functional buzzer system (Must have at least four working buzzers on both sides) (maximum 2 discounts per team)
-$5 for a functional countdown clock or timer (maximum of 3 per team, unless we contact you about needing more)
-$15 for a pre-approved moderator or scorekeeper (no maximum, but please contact us first)
No minimum fee.
* New schools are schools that have neither competed in nor hosted an NAQT Sectional in the last two years

REGISTRATION:
To register, go to http://www.naqt.com/registration/regist ... nt_id=3198 and follow the instructions. If you have not already created an account on the NAQT website, you will need to do so before registering.

FIELD:
To view the currently registered teams, see the NAQT website: http://www.naqt.com/registration/field. ... nt_id=3198 . Field updates will also be posted periodically to this thread.

PACKETS:
NAQT prohibits teams from distributing electronic copies of its packets. Since this tournament will be run using electronic questions, we will be printing packets solely for distribution to teams. If your team would like a copy of the tournament set,
please let us know at least one week before the tournament, so we can have a printed copy ready. We will distribute these packets free of charge.

DETAILED RULES AND ELIGIBILITY:
Full eligibility and rules details are available on the NAQT website:
Rules: http://www.naqt.com/rules.html
Eligibility: http://www.naqt.com/eligibility.html

Updates about the tournament will primarily be through the hsquizbowl.org ; however, they should also be posted online. Our club website is http://quizbowl.bol.ucla.edu. A link should become available once this announcement has been posted.

If you have any questions about any of this, please e-mail Avram Lyon at ajlyon@ucla.edu.

Thanks and hope to see you February 6, 2010!

Avram Lyon
Mik Larsen
Tournament Directors, West NAQT SCT 2010

[Avram]

Post edited to match the hosting guidelines; there is now no explicit minimum fee, and packets will be distributed free of charge.

[Avram]

Post edited to add registration information. See http://www.naqt.com/registration/field. ... nt_id=3198 for the current field and to register.

[Avram]

Field updates go here
Div I
Stanford (1)
UC Irvine (1)
UC San Diego (1) (not registered!)
UCLA (1) (if needed to make four teams)
4 teams

Div II
Caltech (3)
Fresno State (1)
UC San Diego (1)
Stanford (1)
Claremont Colleges (2)
UC Irvine (1)
UC Berkeley (1)
10 teams

Current registrations can also be tracked on the stats pages for the tournament:
* Division I Teams and Rosters at http://quizbowl.gimranov.com/stats/rost ... =sct2010d1
* Division II Teams and Rosters at http://quizbowl.gimranov.com/stats/rost ... =sct2010d2

Please register soon, so that we know our staffing needs!

[Alejandro]

We're sending at least one team. I'll find out later this week if we can send two teams.

[Avram]

Tournament details:

All rounds will be held in Bunche Hall, with the main meeting space in Room 1209B.
For campus maps and driving directions, see http://www.ucla.edu/map/.
For parking information, see http://www.transportation.ucla.edu/port ... ionMap.htm. The best parking lots for the event are Law and Lot 3.

During the tournament, live stats will be available on http://quizbowl.gimranov.com/stats/tournaments.php.

[Swank diet]

At the moment it looks like 1 UCSD DII team will be attending. There's a slight possibility another may come too. If you could use an experienced mod, let me know and I can come staff.

[Avram]

At the moment it looks like 1 UCSD DII team will be attending. There's a slight possibility another may come too. If you could use an experienced mod, let me know and I can come staff.

We would welcome you as a moderator-- every external moderator is one more UCLA player who can compete.

[sbraunfeld]

Berkeley will be bringing one Division I team.

[every time i refresh i have a new name]

if I can get driven up, I'll be happy to moderate too.

[Avram]

if I can get driven up, I'll be happy to moderate too.

Let me know if you can-- we'd welcome the help.

I don't want to repeat last year's desperate efforts to make a four-team Div 1 field. There are some major teams still missing in action. Where are you, Stanford, UCSD D1, UCI?

This can be a good, strong tournament if top teams come out for it, so please let me know if there are reasons teams can't make it-- I'll try to make any accommodations we can.

[Schweizerkas]

I don't want to repeat last year's desperate efforts to make a four-team Div 1 field. There are some major teams still missing in action. Where are you, Stanford, UCSD D1, UCI?

Stanford is tentatively planning on coming, but there haven't been a lot of firm commitments yet within the club. We'll probably have one D1 team and one D2 team.

[MattyJ]

UCI now looks like a D1 and D2 team.

We finally have 3 undergrads, myself included who can play on a D2 team.

[Avram]

Field updated. We're looking at a pretty good strong field so far-- just make sure you register on the NAQT website ASAP and let me know if there are any cancellations. With 4 teams in D1, we'll do a quadruple round robin followed by an advantaged final (12 games / 12 rounds + 1-2 finals). With 10 teams in D2, we'll do a single round robin, followed by a half round-robin and an advantaged final (13 games / 14 rounds + 1-2 rounds).

We are still looking for additional staff, so please let me know if you are in the area and can help out. All moderators will be compensated with lunch and our thanks.

[every time i refresh i have a new name]

Chris, Brian, and I are actually thinking of forming a DI team, but we'll have a DII team there regardless.

[MattyJ]

Chris, Brian, and I are actually thinking of forming a DI team, but we'll have a DII team there regardless.

Just make sure to drag Batman away from online poker for a day and make him come up.

[Avram]

Chris, Brian, and I are actually thinking of forming a DI team, but we'll have a DII team there regardless.

It'd be good to have you in DI. Please let me know for sure very soon-- we need to make sure that we are fully staffed.

[sbraunfeld]

Berkeley has moved from DI to DII.

[Avram]

Several notes:
1. We need more teams in Division 1. UCLA can field a team (i.e., Ray) to make a 4-team field, but first UCSD or someone else needs to register another Division 1 team. Otherwise, Division 1 will be very boring.

2. More staff would be very welcome. At this point, we have enough qualified moderators, and we're happy to take even less-experienced staff to work as scorekeepers. The discount is $15 per staff member. Let me know ASAP if you can bring a staff member.

[cvdwightw]

Several notes:
1. We need more teams in Division 1. UCLA can field a team (i.e., Ray) to make a 4-team field, but first UCSD or someone else needs to register another Division 1 team. Otherwise, Division 1 will be very boring.

What exactly would be the plan here? There's absolutely nothing to be gained in having us and Stanford beat up on the vast majority of the D2 field. On the other hand, I'm not sure anyone wants a repeat of the 2007 Northwest SCT.

One potential solution if the D1 and D2 sets don't have that weird issue where the same tossup will end up in one round in D1 packet and a different round in D2 is to just bite the bullet and have lots of seal-clubbing on D1 questions for 11 rounds, then split off UCI and Stanford for 3 or 4 matches and split the D2 field 4-3-3 and play a RR on D2 questions. Of course, I have absolutely no idea how NAQT would adjust bonus and tossup percentages on a mix of D1 and D2 questions (and I suspect that no as-yet-proposed model save possibly Gordon's model, which has other inherent issues with calculating question difficulty, would be able to get around this issue!).

Also, if you're planning on using your hosting autobid to send a D2 team to ICT, you'd need to get confirmation from NAQT that entering Ray in the D1 field for the sole purpose of avoiding combined-field issues would not affect that autobid. Given the likely strength of the D1 field, it's entirely possible that Ray would finish last at the SCT and end up near the qualification zone.

[bt_green_warbler]

Let me get in touch with R. about all of the above.

[Swank diet]

There will definitely be a UCSD DI team consisting of at least myself and Brian and quite likely Auroni (and possibly Vivek too). We're still trying to figure out who will be on our DII team since we've been recruiting this quarter and the number of people who might be on that team is in flux. So with Ray that makes a fine quadruple RR, I believe.

[Avram]

There will definitely be a UCSD DI team consisting of at least myself and Brian and quite likely Auroni (and possibly Vivek too). We're still trying to figure out who will be on our DII team since we've been recruiting this quarter and the number of people who might be on that team is in flux. So with Ray that makes a fine quadruple RR, I believe.

Glad to hear that.

Also, if you're planning on using your hosting autobid to send a D2 team to ICT, you'd need to get confirmation from NAQT that entering Ray in the D1 field for the sole purpose of avoiding combined-field issues would not affect that autobid. Given the likely strength of the D1 field, it's entirely possible that Ray would finish last at the SCT and end up near the qualification zone.

I believe we are planning on using the hosting autobid in D1. If Ray qualifies in D1, that bid will be dissolved; we realize that. Our D2 hopes are pinned on earning a bid through competition.

[Avram]

Tournament underway.

For live stats, see http://quizbowl.gimranov.com/stats/inde ... =sct2010d2 (Div II) and http://quizbowl.gimranov.com/stats/inde ... =sct2010d1 (Div I).

[Avram]

Division I
Irvine placed first in Division I at 11-1, finishing the with a four game lead over 2nd-place Stanford (7-5). San Diego took 3rd at 5-7, and our house sacrificial lamb took 4th at 1-11. There were no D1-Undergraduate teams.

Division II
After 9 nine rounds of regular play and 5 in the playoff brackets, Caltech A (12-1) finished in first place with four game lead. The next three teams (San Diego, Stanford, Berkeley) finished tied for 2nd place at 8-5, and Claremont A in 5th place filled out the top playoff bracket with a 6-7 final record.

For complete results, see the links above.

[manary]

Running 14 rounds from 9-6 (after waiting a half hour for all the teams to show up, and reseeding) with a nice lunch break seemed pretty good. And none of the moderators were game-breakingly bad. Hmm I'm sounding negative, but I was trying to be positive. Point is, it was well run, fun to play, and no problems. Thanks UCLA!

[Swank diet]

Nice job hosting by UCLA. Everything was well organized, stats were up quickly, lunchtime was generous but not too long, and feedback about moderators was taken into account and corrections made. Despite taking several rounds for our team to wake up, it was a good tournament and one of the few I've been to where I was still ready to keeping playing after it ended (but it was a fine ending point, don't get me wrong, and I enjoyed getting back before 9). Good work!

Also, apologies for being a bit late to arrive; we were waiting for some DII people who didn't show up and then ran into a massive rainstorm in Mission Viejo that was literally knocking cars off the road left and right (Calfornia drivers apparently don't know how to drive in the rain) and forced us to slow to a crawl for about half an hour.

[Avram]

There were errors in the D2 individual scores for Berkeley in round 9, Caltech B in round 13, and Caltech A in round 11. These have been fixed and the fixed scores sent to NAQT. Please let me know if you catch any additional errors in the team or individual data.