The Quizbowl Resource Center

Niles West High School in Skokie, IL, just north of Chicago, is holding its second annual tournament on January 5th, 2013. Any team consisting solely of high schoolers from a single school may register, and all teams will be guaranteed to play throughout the day. We will be mirroring the Norcross BDAT II.

The format will consist of bracketed round robin prelims followed by rebracketing into round robin playoffs and then an advantaged final. We'll follow ACF rules, including 4v4 matches with a strict maximum of 6 players per team, except with the addition of 15 point powers. Schools are encouraged to bring multiple teams. There will be no minimum number of players per team.

$65 for the first team from a school
$55 for each subsequent team from a school
-$5 for each functional buzzer system a team brings
-$15 for each staffer a team brings (staffers will also be provided lunch)

To register as a team or a staffer, please contact me at [email protected]. Please include with your email the number of teams and buzzer systems you can bring, information on any staffers you can provide, and the cell phone number of someone who will be with the team on the day of the tournament. Unfortunately, we are unable to pay staffers directly. Staffers who wish to have a discount credited to a specific team for their participation should include that in their email.

Current Field (18):
Carmel Catholic A
Carmel Catholic B
Carmel Catholic C
Fenton
Hawk Pride
IMSA A
IMSA B
International School of Goatbowlers
Loyola
Niles West
Saint Joseph
Smith School of Benchwarming
Stevenson
Verde Unchained
Wheaton North
Wheaton Warrenville South A
Wheaton Warrenville South B
Wheaton Warrenville South C

I can now confirm that we will again be mirroring the Norcross BDAT.

I've added a field update to the first post. We could also really use more staff; contact me if you're interested.

Can you give an estimate on what the field cap might look like? Thanks!

For now all I can guarantee is a field cap of 20 teams between the two divisions. I suspect that we'll be able to raise that cap though, possibly as high as 36 teams.

Bumped for a field update. Just 8 spots left under the current field cap.

It would be nice to get a few more teams for this. I understand that winter break schedules are causing problems for many schools. If you're a player and your school can't come for whatever reason but you would still like to attend, let me know and we can work something out.

Do you have room for 2 IMSAs in your field?

Yes, we definitely have room for two IMSA teams. In which division would you like to place them?

Need you ask?

Aaron - Auburn is interested in bringing one team to this (competitive division, please), if we can work out transportation; we are on vacation from classes until Jan. 7.

I just sent you an email - I'll staff for Loyola if you're still in need.

Aaron Goldfein wrote:Yes, we definitely have room for two IMSA teams. In which division would you like to place them?

David Riley wrote:Need you ask?

The first should definitely be in competitive. The second can be put wherever is easier. It is my sophomore IMSA B without a couple players, so standard might be a good fit, but they'll "play up" if need be.

Due to low numbers, at this point I'm wondering if it might be better to just merge the divisions into a single field. Anyone have thoughts on this?

Aaron Goldfein wrote:Due to low numbers, at this point I'm wondering if it might be better to just merge the divisions into a single field. Anyone have thoughts on this?

I don't see why you would. The people who want one division or the other want that for a reason. Eight teams in each division isn't terrible format-wise, since you could do something like a full round robin followed by 2x4 to give rematches of more competitive games, which gives every team 10 rounds. I don't think merging divisions gives a much better schedule, but it does ensure that the games that do get played are more lopsided.

Dominator wrote: I don't think merging divisions gives a much better schedule, but it does ensure that the games that do get played are more lopsided.

I mean that happens at most every tournament in a nationally competitive state. Segregation by ability division might be a good thing to happen once or twice per year in such states, but any more than that might just be taking away the opportunity for variety at tournaments. Given the amount of tournaments hosted all over Illinois, I wouldn't think that finding at least one less intense field in general would be that much of a problem.

Aaron - Sorry, but Auburn will not be able to come on Jan. 5.

merv1618 wrote:

Dominator wrote: I don't think merging divisions gives a much better schedule, but it does ensure that the games that do get played are more lopsided.

I mean that happens at most every tournament in a nationally competitive state. Segregation by ability division might be a good thing to happen once or twice per year in such states, but any more than that might just be taking away the opportunity for variety at tournaments. Given the amount of tournaments hosted all over Illinois, I wouldn't think that finding at least one less intense field in general would be that much of a problem.

I don't think less-than-intense fields are a problem, and it would be nice to see some again in Illinois. I still don't see the advantage in merging divisions for this particular tournament, especially so close to event date.

As is, double-round-robin in Standard and round robin + playoffs of four and four in Competitive gives everyone ten guaranteed matches, maintains the existing divisions, and has minimal rebracketing delay. Of course, more teams signing up could make combining a more viable option.

Morgan you're forgetting the mystery team, which throws a wrench in that situation.

*Edit I can't spell

Euler's Constant wrote:Morgan you're forgetting the mystery team, which throws a wretch in that situation.

"Wretch"? :)

I sent out an email to all staff and coaches. If you did not receive one but should have, let me know asap.

We decided to combine the divisions into a single field. The format is two pools of 8 rebracketed into two more pools of 8 without repeats. When the tournament was announced, I was expecting to hit more around 10 to 12 in each division. With so few teams, we felt it would have been a disservice to have so many repeat matches, especially considering that Carmel Catholic constituted 3 out of 6 standard division teams. I understand that some top division teams would have preferred a separate field, but as I figure it any team which finishes in the top half of the single field tournament will still get to play every other team in the top half.

We have one more opening we would really like to fill. Once we hit 16 teams, the field will close.

Hey Aaron, I'm not sure if you got my "team" 's registration for this tournament (my email has not been particularly reliable for tournament registration), but in case you didn't, I PM'd you as we'll. Hopefully, we can make it into the field.

The field is capped at 16, but we might be able to stretch it to 18 if we get a few more registrations and maybe another staffer.

The field is now at 18 teams, and we won't be expanding anymore. I guess we could start a waitlist if anyone is still interested.

The new format will be 3 brackets of 6 teams each in the morning, rebracketed into 3 more brackets of 6 teams each in the afternoon, then finals. This gives every team 10 matches, not including tiebreakers/finals.

Championship bracket:
Loyola
Saint Joseph
Verde Unchained
Smith School of Benchwarming
Stevenson
IMSA A

First consolation:
WWS A
Hawk Pride
StIMSA B
International School of Goatbowlers
Fenton
Wheaton North

Second consolation:
Carmel Catholic A
Niles West
Carmel Catholic C
WWS B
Carmel Catholic B
WWS C

In the championship bracket, IMSA was 4-1 while Loyola, Stevenson, and the Smith School of Benchwarming were 3-2. Therefore, Stevenson and the Smith School of Benchwarming played a half packet. The winner, Stevenson, played Loyola on a half packet. Loyola won that second round, granting them entrance to a disadvantaged final against IMSA. Loyola won the first game of the final on the last tossup, but lost the second game also on the final tossup. Big congrats to IMSA for pulling out a thrilling and well-deserved victory.

Huge thanks are in order to the staff who volunteered their time to help out today: Ben Dillon, Mike Laudermith, Michael Nissan, David Riley, Jim Stankevitz, Howard Swider, Andrew Wang, and Nolan Winkler. An especially big thanks to Matt Laird who volunteered at the last second when we were left without enough moderators.

Thanks to all teams who attend. I hope we're able to hold this tournament next year and that everyone can return. This tournament is not yet cleared for discussion, but it's my understanding that there is a private group on these board set up for discussion of the set. Full stats will follow shortly.

Congratulations to IMSA on what seems like a thrilling victory! I hope everyone enjoyed the BDAT set, and we'd love and appreciate any feedback/commentary that you have.

We encourage people who played or moderated or heard the set to join the BDAT II discussion group under User Control Panel - Usergroups- BDAT II discussion . Thanks!