Michigan 2016-2017 Schedule and Discussion

[Progcon]

This thread is to plan out the 2016 Michigan High School and Middle School Quizbowl schedule. In the schedule below I marked all the standardized test dates I could find on the ACT and SAT websites. I also included the tentative date for tournaments MSU will be hosting.

If you are planning on hosting, please post the date of your tournament and the same of the question set. We don't want multiple sites using the same NAQT set, for example. I will update the schedule as people schedule more events. Feel free to PM me with any questions, corrections and comments.

Edit: As Roxanne mentioned, we created The Michigan Quizbowl Alliance to help connect teams. It is a great resource that we hope Michigan teams use.


Key:
Middle School
High School
National Tournament
Standardized Testing

September 3
September 10 ACT
September 17
September 24

October 1 SAT MSU Fall Kickoff Tournament (IS-154)
October 8 Blizzard Bowl at Michigan Tech (IS-157A)
October 15 Jan Rademacher Memorial Quiz Bowl Invitational at White Cloud HS
October 22 ACT
October 29

November 5 SAT Detroit Catholic Central Novice Tournament (SCOP Novice)
November 12 11th Annual Holland Fall Quiz Bowl Invitational at Holland High
November 19
November 20 Edwin Hubble Memorial Tournament (Harvard Fall Tournament) at Michigan State
November 26

December 3 SAT 4th Annual SWIM N' WIN NAQT Invitational @ Berrien Springs & Michigan Fall Classic at U-M Ann Arbor (IS-162) & Upper Peninsula Fall Quizbowl Championship (IS-159A)
December 10 ACT Detroit Catholic Central Annual Middle School Tournament (MS 19)
December 17
December 24
December 31

January 7
January 14
January 21 SAT Detroit Country Day Middle School Invitational (MS-20) Rube Goldberg XIV (IS-160)
January 28 Gaylord Invitational (IS-163A)

February 4
February 11 ACT History Bowl Michigan at U-M Ann Arbor
February 18
February 25 The Blessed Angela Quiz Tournament at St. Michael Catholic High (MS-21)

March 4
March 11 SAT
March 15ish 2017 Michigan Middle School State Championship at DCC (MS-22)
March 18 Tentative Date for MSU March Madness Tournament
March 25

April 1 NAQT Michigan States at U-M Ann Arbor
April 8 ACT
April 15 Easter Weekend
April 21-22 Michigan State Tournament Hosted by the MSU Honors College (POMMSS)
April 29

May 6 SAT
May 13
May 20
May 27 NAQT HSNCT weekend at Atlanta Marriott

June 3 SAT
June 10 PACE weekend in Chicago

[Important Bird Area]

September 24 MSU Fall Kickoff Tournament on NAQT A set

We might or might not be able to provide an introductory set for September 24th. In general, it is always a good idea to wait until you have confirmation from NAQT that a question set is available before posting a public announcement.

Thanks!

[Progcon]

September 24 MSU Fall Kickoff Tournament on NAQT A set

We might or might not be able to provide an introductory set for September 24th. In general, it is always a good idea to wait until you have confirmation from NAQT that a question set is available before posting a public announcement.

Thanks!

Yeah sorry about that. I'll edit it. The plan is to run on that set but if it's not available, I don't know what other sets are available that early in the year.

[Cheynem]

Is it true that the Michigan State Honors College tournament will be using NAQT questions?

EDIT: It is not.

[Progcon]

Is it true that the Michigan State Honors College tournament will be using NAQT questions?

I have not heard that. I would be excited if that were true. Can anyone from NAQT answer this?

[dhumphreys17]

NSC 2017 is the weekend of June 10, and HSNCT 2017 is the weekend of May 27. See here ( http://www.pace-nsc.org/ ) and here ( https://www.naqt.com/articles/future-championships.html ).

[Cheynem]

To answer my own question about the Michigan State Honors College set, it is not true. I misread an earlier post in another thread. NAQT has confirmed that this as well. Hopefully something can replace the poor questions currently being used though.

[Failorjo]

Here are some more dates to add to the list. Below is an email from the Holland HS coach.

Gaylord/Traverse City Central may try to host a tournament at some point next year. Not sure of date yet. Maybe late January?

Thanks,

John Failor
Traverse City Central HS

Hi coaches! I hope you are all having a good end of your school year.

We have some events planned for next year, so mark your calendars:

Saturday, Nov. 12: 11th Annual Holland Fall Quiz Bowl Invitational @ Holland High

Saturday, Dec. 3: 4th Annual SWIM N' WIN NAQT Invitational @ Berrien Springs

--
Carl Van Faasen
Science Teacher / Quiz Bowl Coach
Holland High
(616) 494-2328
cvanfaas@hollandpublicschools.org

[dhumphreys17]

I'd like to see some progress on an MQBA front. I know many of us had been talking about this in last year's date claim thread, but I really think establishing outreach programs would be beneficial.

[CGismondiCC]

The annual DCC Novice Tournament will be Saturday November 5th, and the annual DCC Middle School Tournament will be Saturday December 10th.

[Progcon]

The annual DCC Novice Tournament will be Saturday November 5th, and the annual DCC Middle School Tournament will be Saturday December 10th.

I added both events to the schedule. I don't have any other middle school events on there because I am not plugged into the MI middle school scene.

Does anybody have a good list of middle school tournaments? I'd be happy to add them.

[jonah]

The annual DCC Novice Tournament will be Saturday November 5th, and the annual DCC Middle School Tournament will be Saturday December 10th.

I added both events to the schedule. I don't have any other middle school events on there because I am not plugged into the MI middle school scene.

Does anybody have a good list of middle school tournaments? I'd be happy to add them.

Here's a place to start.

[dhumphreys17]

The annual DCC Novice Tournament will be Saturday November 5th, and the annual DCC Middle School Tournament will be Saturday December 10th.

I added both events to the schedule. I don't have any other middle school events on there because I am not plugged into the MI middle school scene.

Does anybody have a good list of middle school tournaments? I'd be happy to add them.

Here's a place to start.

That list has DCC Middle School Fall on October 15, the same day as CHSL Fall, just a heads up.

[CGismondiCC]

It says the dates are approximate. I emailed NAQT this morning, because we weren't able to procure dates until this week. I'm sure they will update soon enough.

[dhumphreys17]

NAQT has the University of Michigan Autumn Classic at 12/3, just FYI.

[rxailagan]

Hello all!

Myself along with Sid Dogra, Harris Bunker, and Collin Parks made a website for Michigan in the state of Michigan in hopes to act as a resource for teams throughout the state. It can be found here: http://michiganquizbowl.org and if you would like to receive an email that Introduces the website and how you can be involved, please DM me your email address :)

[dhumphreys17]

Hello all!

Myself along with Sid Dogra, Harris Bunker, and Collin Parks made a website for Michigan in the state of Michigan in hopes to act as a resource for teams throughout the state. It can be found here: http://michiganquizbowl.org and if you would like to receive an email that Introduces the website and how you can be involved, please DM me your email address :)

I am glad that this is taking off and look forward to good work from this organization in the near and far future.

[CGismondiCC]

Any thoughts as to when and where the NAQT State Championship Tournament will be held?

[Irreligion in Bangladesh]

NHBB will be hosting its Michigan tournament on February 11th at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. To sign up, simply head to the online registration form here. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or e-mail David Madden at director@historybowl.com. Thanks!

[Progcon]

So the MSU Honors College accepted our offer to write the questions for the State Tournament that will take place this April. This means that the State Tournament will run on good, pyramidal questions for the first time since 2014. Our packet is called POMMSS if you would like to learn more and coaches can email me if they have any questions about the change from KMO to 20/20 tossup/bonus questions.

Edit: I have been told by Honors College leadership that the the State Tournament will take place on April 21st and 22nd in East Lansing. More information on it can be found here but message me if you have any questions. I want all the best teams in Michigan to attend this year!

[nitzuga]

Would any Michigan teams be interested in a BASQT mirror on April 8 in West Lafayette, IN? We're considering running a tournament and would like to know if there's interest from neighboring states before solidifying plans. PM me if so.

[Kilroy Was Here]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19522

The post for the NAQT state championship tournament is up! If you'd like to register, follow the registration link on the post linked above.

[Progcon]

Since NASAT tryouts don't seem to be happening at NAQT states this year, and I firmly want there to be a team for the tournament, is there any interest of there being a tryout on a couple of packets on Friday after the State Tournaments game's have wrapped up at around 6 o'clock? I could definitely get a room in like Berkey or something and the MSU club has our own buzzer set. I'd like around 8 players to email me and tell me they are interested in being on a potential NASAT team and can commit to attending the tournament. I will get a college difficulty question set as the date approaches and I will pick the team with regard to specialty and recorded quizbowl skill. Academic year, GPA, school attending, other academic accomplishments, will not be considered. If there is wide interest I could get probably get someone else to read questions in another room. I could even order some food to eat while playing questions.

I really want there to be a team last year as the team last year kind of fell apart at the last minute.

EDIT: A bit unrelated, but one of my writers was unable to convince the Honors College representatives to change a few rules. Rounds will still consist of two 15 minute halves of POMMSS, there will be no powers but there are 5 point negs. Bonuses will be worth 10 points each. Rounds should also end after 20 tossups are read. Let me know if you have any questions about the State Tournament.

EDIT 2: with the State tournament in a couple weeks, I'd like to know how many people I could expect to show up to a NASAT tryout so I can get the questions ASAP. I'd want at least 8 players who can commit to attending NASAT to have run the tryout. The team will be balanced around having good players on the categories of literature, science, history and fine arts. PM or email me if interested.

[LaurenJernstadt]

The brackets and schedules for the State Tournament are now posted!

http://honorscollege.msu.edu/quiz-bowl-brackets

[Progcon]

The brackets and schedules for the State Tournament are now posted!

http://honorscollege.msu.edu/quiz-bowl-brackets

Just as an FYI, these brackets are unseeded. I wanted to seed but the Honors College claimed that I didn't have enough information to seed teams. This is despite the fact that I have seeded for 4 high school tournaments this year.

[dhumphreys17]

The brackets and schedules for the State Tournament are now posted!

http://honorscollege.msu.edu/quiz-bowl-brackets

Just as an FYI, these brackets are unseeded. I wanted to seed but the Honors College claimed that I didn't have enough information to seed teams. This is despite the fact that I have seeded for 4 high school tournaments this year.

That's a tad bit surprising! I for one noted that the top 4 teams in Class CD from last year that weren't Utica Academy (they're not in it this year) all got byes (Bad Axe, Manistee CC, Hackett Catholic, and Sacred Heart). I feel like Fulton got snubbed in their bracket placement, but that's just me. I do feel like we're on the "easier" side of the bracket. Anyway, I felt like they took a little effort to do some team seeding.

[LaurenJernstadt]

That's a tad bit surprising! I for one noted that the top 4 teams in Class CD from last year that weren't Utica Academy (they're not in it this year) all got byes (Bad Axe, Manistee CC, Hackett Catholic, and Sacred Heart). I feel like Fulton got snubbed in their bracket placement, but that's just me. I do feel like we're on the "easier" side of the bracket. Anyway, I felt like they took a little effort to do some team seeding.

I can see where you are coming from with the [i]slight[i] team seeding, but I can see why the Honors College would say they don't want to seed based on team strength since it is hard to tell which teams are stronger if most teams use different styles of questions. Although we went undefated in the Mid Michigan Academic League and League Tournament, our questions are a mix of pyramidal and lightening round style questions, and our league puts larger emphasis on current events and computational math. You could have a team who slammed every opponent in a league or tournament using strictly lightening round or KMO style questions but be super phased by the pyramidal style of questions as well as the difficulty of the POMMSS questions. You could also have a team whose win/loss record is not as great as others, but they could've stayed toe-to-toe against tougher teams than a team with a great win/loss record in an easier league. The Honors College may have decided that the four best teams from last year (Bad Axe, Manistee CC, Hackett, and Sacred Heart) were the only ones that needed "seeding" (AKA First round Byes) since their performance last year earned them a bit of a break this year.
Also, personally, I don't feel super snubbed with our placement, but I can see where you are coming from Devin. Sure, if we win our first match against Kent City (which I'm predicting we will since we already played them this season and beat them by nearly 200 points on QuizBusters), we have to play last year's runner-up (Bad Axe), but team's can change drastically in a year. I watched their QuizCentral episode last week and they seem strong but very beatable. However, I don't know what their experience with pyramidal questions is like since I don't know what kind of questions the Thumb League runs on. After their performance last year at SSNCT, however, they seem like a team that could easily be shaken by POMMSS's question set up and packet difficulty.
In my side of the bracket, the two biggest threats to Fulton the way I percieve it are Bad Axe and Hackett Catholic (the team that eliminated us last year). Saying that, I think it will be one of those three teams in the semifinal match Saturday. On your side of the bracket Devin, I'm predicting either Sacred Heart Academy, Manistee Catholic Central, or a dark horse rising from White Cloud in Saturday's semifinal match.

[LaurenJernstadt]

Also noted, the winners of Matches C37 and C38 are guaranteed at least a Top Three finish. I like how the Honors College set up the bracket that way so that teams have a greater incentive to do well Friday. It makes those two teams' days' easier Saturday, and they still get a bit of a reward out of it without having to slave away in approximately five more matches in the Loser's Bracket for the same outcome.

[dhumphreys17]

I can see where you are coming from with the slight team seeding, but I can see why the Honors College would say they don't want to seed based on team strength since it is hard to tell which teams are stronger if most teams use different styles of questions. Although we went undefated in the Mid Michigan Academic League and League Tournament, our questions are a mix of pyramidal and lightning round style questions, and our league puts larger emphasis on current events and computational math. You could have a team who slammed every opponent in a league or tournament using strictly lightning round or KMO style questions but be super phased by the pyramidal style of questions as well as the difficulty of the POMMSS questions. You could also have a team whose win/loss record is not as great as others, but they could've stayed toe-to-toe against tougher teams than a team with a great win/loss record in an easier league. The Honors College may have decided that the four best teams from last year (Bad Axe, Manistee CC, Hackett, and Sacred Heart) were the only ones that needed "seeding" (AKA First round Byes) since their performance last year earned them a bit of a break this year.

Also, personally, I don't feel super snubbed with our placement, but I can see where you are coming from Devin. Sure, if we win our first match against Kent City (which I'm predicting we will since we already played them this season and beat them by nearly 200 points on QuizBusters), we have to play last year's runner-up (Bad Axe), but team's can change drastically in a year. I watched their Quiz Central episode last week and they seem strong but very beatable. However, I don't know what their experience with pyramidal questions is like since I don't know what kind of questions the Thumb League runs on. After their performance last year at SSNCT, however, they seem like a team that could easily be shaken by POMMSS's question set up and packet difficulty.
In my side of the bracket, the two biggest threats to Fulton the way I percieve it are Bad Axe and Hackett Catholic (the team that eliminated us last year). Saying that, I think it will be one of those three teams in the semifinal match Saturday. On your side of the bracket Devin, I'm predicting either Sacred Heart Academy, Manistee Catholic Central, or a dark horse rising from White Cloud in Saturday's semifinal match.

I can inform you (read: we didn't sign any non-disclosure agreement, but spoiler alert) that we beat Boyne City on Quiz Central for the Grand Championship, and they beat both Flushing and Bad Axe. I feel like Manistee Catholic Central is the biggest threat on our side of the bracket (we beat Brethren earlier this year 435-85, and although I don't know much about Peck, I think we'll be able to beat them), and that if we can win that game, we'll be in at least the top 3. Hackett Catholic is quite the dark horse to me. Refresh my memory: how did they play last year? At any rate, I feel like the annual Sacred Heart-Fulton matchup that hasn't happened this year yet is due to happen at States, and I hope it does.

[Progcon]

I'm not going to offer any predictions given that I edited the questions for the event and I'm reading at the tournament, so this take will be as neutral as possible.

Looking at the Division A bracket: U of Detroit, DCC, and Okemos are all in the bottom half of the bracket.Based on the stats from this season, those are three very good teams as evidenced by U-D's performance at NAQT Michigan, Okemos at Hubble Memorial, and DCC is well, DCC. Flushing is also in that bracket and I believe they won this event last year and did quite well at NAQT Michigan themselves, and I believe Saline came in second in 2015 at this event. The top half of the A division bracket has more teams that I am unfamiliar with, but Holt, Dewitt, Traverse City Central and Grosse Pointe North (:party:) all can get questions early. So to me, the bracket seems harder for the teams in the bottom part of the bracket.

That wasn't mean to be a slight at any of teams I mentioned or did not mention. I am looking forward to seeing what all the teams can do on this set.

[LaurenJernstadt]

I can inform you (read: we didn't sign any non-disclosure agreement, but spoiler alert) that we beat Boyne City on Quiz Central for the Grand Championship, and they beat both Flushing and Bad Axe. I feel like Manistee Catholic Central is the biggest threat on our side of the bracket (we beat Brethren earlier this year 435-85, and although I don't know much about Peck, I think we'll be able to beat them), and that if we can win that game, we'll be in at least the top 3. Hackett Catholic is quite the dark horse to me. Refresh my memory: how did they play last year? At any rate, I feel like the annual Sacred Heart-Fulton matchup that hasn't happened this year yet is due to happen at States, and I hope it does.

Even though the score doesn't seem like it, we probably could have beat them. Almost every single question where both Fulton and Hackett would buzz in at the same time (which was about 65% of the match), Hackett's buzzer's would always register as first. Fulton had also just got done playing four matches in a row with no break in between any of them, and the two matches before taking on Hackett came down to the wire and really drained our brain power greatly. Also, I think their best player graduated last year; I don't know about the other three starters. Also, like I said earlier, since I don't know what their league's questions are like, if their league runs more along KMO and lightening round style questions, they could be another team that could be fazed by the structure and difficulty of POMMSS. I think your right to say manistee could serve as a threat. Their league runs on NAQT questions. Although the State questions will be more difficult, they are familiar with the style of questions this year. I'm thinking that most of the teams will be fazed by the questions this year, but the playing field will definetly be more level and fair.
As for the annual Fulton vs SHA game, if it happens at State (And I would like it to happen as well), just know Devin, I don't intend on losing it this time around:)
Quick prediction after all this chatter: I'm thinking Fulton vs. SHA game will either be the SemiFinal match, a late loser's bracket match, or the Grand Championship Match:)

[LaurenJernstadt]

Devin, it also might be good to note that we are more than likely the only two people in the Class C/D Division that know about POMMSS, it's relative difficulty, and it's question distribution. Because of this, I'm pushing my coach to use BHSAT, Harvard Fall Tournament, and Michigan State Tournament 2014 questions (back when they were pyramidal) at practice to help prepare our team for the relative difficulty of the POMMSS packets, and we are using the packet distribution to capitalize on weak spots where we could score major points. For example, our team's strong point, geography, is limited to a 1/1 distribution in POMMSS, and there are no computational math problems in the State Packets (welp!). Because of this, we are focusing more of our energy into larger categories such as the Fine Arts where there are more points to be earned.
Since other teams are more than likely unfamiliar with the difficulty and distribution, what is the liklihood they will be prepared to take on teams who are studying to the difficulty and distribution?

[dhumphreys17]

Devin, it also might be good to note that we are more than likely the only two people in the Class C/D Division that know about POMMSS, it's relative difficulty, and it's question distribution. Because of this, I'm pushing my coach to use BHSAT, Harvard Fall Tournament, and Michigan State Tournament 2014 questions (back when they were pyramidal) at practice to help prepare our team for the relative difficulty of the POMMSS packets, and we are using the packet distribution to capitalize on weak spots where we could score major points. For example, our team's strong point, geography, is limited to a 1/1 distribution in POMMSS, and there are no computational math problems in the State Packets (welp!). Because of this, we are focusing more of our energy into larger categories such as the Fine Arts where there are more points to be earned.
Since other teams are more than likely unfamiliar with the difficulty and distribution, what is the likelihood they will be prepared to take on teams who are studying to the difficulty and distribution?

Lauren, besides our two teams, I note the presence of Brethren, Kalamazoo Christian, Kent City, Manistee Catholic Central, Shelby, and White Cloud at >= 1 NAQT tournament this year; additionally, Bad Axe & Roscommon were both on Quiz Central, which is NAQT. Those teams have experience with pyramidal-style questioning. However, we must keep two things in mind. First: NAQT isn't POMMSS. POMMSS is much more like PACE NSC, and Sacred Heart is the only team in the CD field to have attended NSC last year. (POMMSS is also more like all of the sets you described, and the fact that your team is practicing on those packets gives you a leg up.) Second: I will note that in my experience, we practice way more often than many of the teams we compete against, and I've credited our dominance in our conference specifically to that point (no other team in our conference practices more than once a week, compared to our four days a week).

I will note that we have a very specialized practice schedule. Monday is Mundane Monday, where we practice on packets the same level as the difficulty of tournaments we're playing (right now that means higher-level high school regular difficulty sets like BHSAT, HFT and sometimes when we're pushing it HSNCT). Wednesday is Wacky Wednesday, where we relax somewhat and practice on an easier packet set using one of the wacky formats in the Mike Bentley Challenge among other sources. Friday is Freakishly-Difficult Friday, and we practice on Fridays on harder packets (right now that means NSC, ACF Fall, etc.) Thursday is our after-school practice, and we normally use HSNCT packets for those.

At any rate, I feel that the teams that win at States will be the ones most prepared to handle the NSC-esque parts of the distribution and the ones who are actually following the directions to get to Carnegie Hall.

[LaurenJernstadt]

Devin, are there any other dark horses in our bracket? Sometimes, teams get overlooked; then they are the ones who pack a punch. Its like last year how Bad Axe, who I believe lost in their second round of tournament action to UAIS, battled their way through the Loser's bracket all the way to the Championships. You wouldn't think that a team who loses early Friday could get that far. What teams do you think could pull major upsets or even be one who seems weak but will knock you down as soon as they get the chance to pounce?

[dhumphreys17]

Devin, are there any other dark horses in our bracket? Sometimes, teams get overlooked; then they are the ones who pack a punch. Its like last year how Bad Axe, who I believe lost in their second round of tournament action to UAIS, battled their way through the Loser's bracket all the way to the Championships. You wouldn't think that a team who loses early Friday could get that far. What teams do you think could pull major upsets or even be one who seems weak but will knock you down as soon as they get the chance to pounce?

I think of two dark horses: White Cloud and Sandusky. I think of White Cloud because of what I know about them. I actually watched QuizBusters between White Cloud and Fulton earlier today, and found that although you guys beat them by over 200 points, it was because you pulled ahead at the end of a very contentious game. Cameron Karnes is quick on the buzzer for geography he knows; same with Sariena Maka at lit. Long story short: I know White Cloud, and they could pull something. I think of Sandusky because of what I don't know about them. Sandusky gave us a run for our money last year before we pulled out ahead, again, by a much wider margin than what would make one think the game was ever close. Depending on who they graduated, they could make a deep tournament run.

Obviously there are others, but these two particularly come to mind.

[LaurenJernstadt]

I think of two dark horses: White Cloud and Sandusky. I think of White Cloud because of what I know about them. I actually watched QuizBusters between White Cloud and Fulton earlier today, and found that although you guys beat them by over 200 points, it was because you pulled ahead at the end of a very contentious game. Cameron Karnes is quick on the buzzer for geography he knows; same with Sariena Maka at lit. Long story short: I know White Cloud, and they could pull something. I think of Sandusky because of what I don't know about them. Sandusky gave us a run for our money last year before we pulled out ahead, again, by a much wider margin than what would make one think the game was ever close. Depending on who they graduated, they could make a deep tournament run.

Obviously there are others, but these two particularly come to mind.

I can agree with you on both of them. We actually recently lost a match to White Cloud by fifty points due to very silly errors made on Fulton's side. We were ahead at the half, but they pulled away. We defienelty could have and should have won that match. As with Sanduskey, I know one of their strongest players is back this year. We almost beat them last year, but I was mislead on a question about Animal Farm right at the very end (hence why I thank MSU Academic Competition Club for writing the packet this year). I think this year, we could definetely beat them.
Any dark horse rising from Saugatuck? They beat White Cloud last year, and the only reason they made an early tournament exit was a double whammy of Manistee CC and Bad Axe (both eventual Top Three Teams). Could the story have been different if they didn't take on both of those teams? I haven't found much on stats and individual reports for Saugatuck, and I perosnally have never seen them play, but what I don't know instantly makes that team dangerous to me, and they are on my side of the bracket.
Also, what about Roscommon? Fulton won in overtime against them last year (thank the lord for Copland's Appalacian Spring), but I believe I have read that their best player is also back this year. I haven't seen their Quiz Central game, and I don't get Channel 14 on my DVR so I can't record them for a later watch date. How much of a threat are they?

[dhumphreys17]

I think of two dark horses: White Cloud and Sandusky. I think of White Cloud because of what I know about them. I actually watched QuizBusters between White Cloud and Fulton earlier today, and found that although you guys beat them by over 200 points, it was because you pulled ahead at the end of a very contentious game. Cameron Karnes is quick on the buzzer for geography he knows; same with Sariena Maka at lit. Long story short: I know White Cloud, and they could pull something. I think of Sandusky because of what I don't know about them. Sandusky gave us a run for our money last year before we pulled out ahead, again, by a much wider margin than what would make one think the game was ever close. Depending on who they graduated, they could make a deep tournament run.

Obviously there are others, but these two particularly come to mind.

I can agree with you on both of them. We actually recently lost a match to White Cloud by fifty points due to very silly errors made on Fulton's side. We were ahead at the half, but they pulled away. We defienelty could have and should have won that match. As with Sanduskey, I know one of their strongest players is back this year. We almost beat them last year, but I was mislead on a question about Animal Farm right at the very end (hence why I thank MSU Academic Competition Club for writing the packet this year). I think this year, we could definetely beat them.
Any dark horse rising from Saugatuck? They beat White Cloud last year, and the only reason they made an early tournament exit was a double whammy of Manistee CC and Bad Axe (both eventual Top Three Teams). Could the story have been different if they didn't take on both of those teams? I haven't found much on stats and individual reports for Saugatuck, and I perosnally have never seen them play, but what I don't know instantly makes that team dangerous to me, and they are on my side of the bracket.
Also, what about Roscommon? Fulton won in overtime against them last year (thank the lord for Copland's Appalacian Spring), but I believe I have read that their best player is also back this year. I haven't seen their Quiz Central game, and I don't get Channel 14 on my DVR so I can't record them for a later watch date. How much of a threat are they?

I don't see Roscommon as too big of a threat (spoiler alert: they lost to Tawas this year 210-120, and Tawas lost their next game 160-130) but you never know. On the other hand, Saugatuck could pull something. They actually, it seems, beat out Hackett Catholic et al. to win the Southwestern conference regular season, and lost to Gobles at the last tossup to pull 2nd in that conference's tournament. Obviously their lack of experience with pyramidality may be a problem, but they could definitely pull something, and they'll be a thorn to either Fulton or Bad Axe in that round of play.

[LaurenJernstadt]

Basically, you have the powerhouses and the dark horses. Every team is a dark horse cause every team could possibly pull something.

Not trying to get ahead of myself, but I'm thinkkng the top four, in no particular order, will be Fulton, Sacred Heart, Hackett Catholic, and Manistee CC. But any team outside of that group could throw a monkey wrench in that foursome.

[dhumphreys17]

What about in Class B? I feel like there is an obvious, clear winner (DCD), and anything else would be an upset of historic proportions. However, 2nd and 3rd in my eyes are up for grabs between Bay City Western, Big Rapids, Sault Area, Standish Sterling, and Swan Valley. Any dark horses? I know Houghton Central is a good team, but they're also seemingly mercurial from year to year. Ditto on Ludington.

[LaurenJernstadt]

I don't know much on Class B. Almost all of the schools we played this year are either really really small or really really big, and the B schools we played didn't make it into the bracket (except DCD).

[Progcon]

Sorry for the late update: there will be no NASAT tryout tomorrow due to lack of interest. I still want there to be a team so let me know if you can attend NASAT.

Good luck to all the teams at the state tournament tomorrow and Saturday!

Edit:The reception to POMMSS was overwhelmingly positive. Teams still in winners bracket the first day of the tournament.
Class A: Detroit Catholic Central and Traverse City Central (loser gets 3rd, winner guaranteed at least second place.)
Class B: Detroit Country Day and Spring Lake HS (same as above)
Class C/D: Hackett Catholic Prep and Sacred Heart Academy (same as above)

I may update this post throughout tomorrow but live bracket updates are available at this twitter.

[Progcon]

Congratulations to the following teams for their performance at the State Tournament:
Class A: 1st place-Detroit Catholic Central, 2nd place-Traverse City Central, 3rd place-Okemos HS
Class B: 1st place-Detroit Country Day, 2nd place-Spring Lake HS, 3rd place-West Catholic HS
Class C/D: 1st place-Sacred Heart Academy, 2nd place-Hackett Catholic Prep, 3rd place-Kalamazoo Christian HS

Thanks to all the teams that came out. I was very happy with how all the teams on the set that I spent 12 months writing and editing. It was the first year of pyramidal questions since 2014 and many coaches told me how happy they were for the change so that is good to hear. From my perspective, the next step is making more of the local leagues, particularly in the Northern Lower Peninsula and the UP run on pyramidal questions so there can be some standardization throughout the whole state.

If any Michigan team wants a copy of the set exactly as it was read on Friday or Saturday, send msucbowl@gmail.com an email and I will give you a zip file with all the PDFs. Feel free to give me feedback via PM, email, or the discussion group.

[Progcon]

The MSU Honors College is debating whether or not they will be hiring our club again to write the questions. They may return to non-pyramidal questions again. If you could, please email the Honors College and tell them that only pyramidal questions are acceptable in the future. Our club will not help out with the tournament if it is run on Academic Hallmarks or Questions Unlimited questions.

[tksaleija]

The MSU Honors College is debating whether or not they will be hiring our club again to write the questions. They may return to non-pyramidal questions again. If you could, please email the Honors College and tell them that only pyramidal questions are acceptable in the future. Our club will not help out with the tournament if it is run on Academic Hallmarks or Questions Unlimited questions.

Ew, any updates on this? I don't understand why they would switch to low-quality questions after years of success with NAQT-type.

[tksaleija]

The MSU Honors College is debating whether or not they will be hiring our club again to write the questions. They may return to non-pyramidal questions again. If you could, please email the Honors College and tell them that only pyramidal questions are acceptable in the future. Our club will not help out with the tournament if it is run on Academic Hallmarks or Questions Unlimited questions.

EDIT: Messed up original post, refer to one above.

[Progcon]

The MSU Honors College is debating whether or not they will be hiring our club again to write the questions. They may return to non-pyramidal questions again. If you could, please email the Honors College and tell them that only pyramidal questions are acceptable in the future. Our club will not help out with the tournament if it is run on Academic Hallmarks or Questions Unlimited questions.

Ew, any updates on this? I don't understand why they would switch to low-qual.

Assuming that the offer still stands, we are producing a 15 packet 20/20 pyramidal set that is similar to last year's POMMSS for the State Tournament. Announcement will go up soon. They were considering switching back to low quality question writers because of cost and some teams who didn't play good quizbowl didn't like the "new style" questions we wrote. Good teams reacted positively to our set and it looks like we will write the questions. POMMSS will go on the question archive after I give it another look over.

[tksaleija]

Edit: As Roxanne mentioned, we created The Michigan Quizbowl Alliance to help connect teams. It is a great resource that we hope Michigan teams use.

Wasn't sure if this was already addressed, but the link leads to a dead page that doesn't exist.

[tksaleija]

If any Michigan team wants a copy of the set exactly as it was read on Friday or Saturday, send msucbowl@gmail.com an email and I will give you a zip file with all the PDFs. Feel free to give me feedback via PM, email, or the discussion group.

Was this offer for teams who want to mirror or just a packet offer for teams to try out?

[tksaleija]

Are there any plans to set up a comprehensive list similar to this for the 2017-2018 school year?

[Progcon]

I have been busy with work and writing FTP 2 recently. I will put up a new thread when I decide on a date for our Fall Tournament.