The Quizbowl Resource Center

This is just to announce that ACF has changed the definition of Division II. The new definition of Division II follows:

Official ACF Rules wrote: C12. For collegiate tournaments that recognize high-finishing teams and/or individuals of “Division II” status, a “Division II” player is:

C12.1. At ACF Fall and Regionals, and any other collegiate tournament except ACF Nationals, any player who meets the definition of “undergraduate” and has never played ACF Nationals

C12.2. At ACF Nationals, any freshman or sophomore player (measured by time in school, not by credits)

The rationale for this change is that, at Fall and Regionals, the purpose of Division II is to get more teams to attend who otherwise might not, and reward those who do well while being "newer" players. So, at Fall and Regionals, Division II should be for any person meeting Undergraduate status who has never participated in ACF Nationals previously (even as a high schooler). At Nationals, we want to ensure that the title has a meaningful field competing for it and we don't end up with people afraid to play Nationals earlier because it might mess up their future team's eligibility.

We realize that this means that some teams that have already registered as Undergrad teams may, in fact, be Division II teams. Fear not! We will be in touch with you over the next day or two to figure out what division your teams qualify for and to correct your previous registrations, if necessary.

This information is also available on the ACF website, which will be punctually updated with future announcements and recaps as they happen.

Just to make sure before I start registering Auburn teams, if I played ACF Fall when I was a senior in high school, and am now a sophomore in college, do I qualify for DII eligibility for ACF Fall this year?

Yes, you qualify for Division II this year. You will no longer be eligible for Division II (or Undergrad) when you're a senior, but we hope you disqualify yourself from Division II by playing Nats before that. :)

Also, as you well may know, your team will be required to write a packet since you played a regular collegiate tournament before September 2011. (Full information on who is required to submit packets is here.)

Susan wrote:Yes, you qualify for Division II this year. You will no longer be eligible for Division II (or Undergrad) when you're a senior, but we hope you disqualify yourself from Division II by playing Nats before that. :)

Also, as you well may know, your team will be required to write a packet since you played a regular collegiate tournament before September 2011. (Full information on who is required to submit packets is here.)

Okay, cool. We plan on going to Nationals this year. And we have already submitted a packet by the -50 deadline. Thanks for the information!

One of my main hopes for this new DII rule is that it cuts down on the confusion. Now it should hopefully be really easy to know if you're DII eligible: for Fall and Regionals, are you an undergrad who hasn't played Nationals? For Nationals, are you a freshman or sophomore? If yes, then you're eligible!

Susan wrote:Yes, you qualify for Division II this year. You will no longer be eligible for Division II (or Undergrad) when you're a senior, but we hope you disqualify yourself from Division II by playing Nats before that. :)

Official ACF Rules wrote:11. For collegiate tournaments which recognize high-finishing teams and/or individuals of “undergraduate” status, an “undergraduate” player is a player who did not receive a BA or equivalent or higher degree prior to the academic year in which the tournament is taking place, and meets EITHER or BOTH of the following conditions:

11.1. The player graduated from high school in an academic year four or fewer years prior to the year in which the tournament is taking place

11.2. The player did not participate in any collegiate or open academic quizbowl tournaments before the fall semester of the academic year three years prior to the year in which the tournament is taking place

Wouldn't a college senior who played ACF Fall in his or her senior year of high school still meet condition 11.1, and therefore be undergrad-eligible?

t-bar wrote:

Susan wrote:Yes, you qualify for Division II this year. You will no longer be eligible for Division II (or Undergrad) when you're a senior, but we hope you disqualify yourself from Division II by playing Nats before that. :)

Official ACF Rules wrote:11. For collegiate tournaments which recognize high-finishing teams and/or individuals of “undergraduate” status, an “undergraduate” player is a player who did not receive a BA or equivalent or higher degree prior to the academic year in which the tournament is taking place, and meets EITHER or BOTH of the following conditions:

11.1. The player graduated from high school in an academic year four or fewer years prior to the year in which the tournament is taking place

11.2. The player did not participate in any collegiate or open academic quizbowl tournaments before the fall semester of the academic year three years prior to the year in which the tournament is taking place

Wouldn't a college senior who played ACF Fall in his or her senior year of high school still meet condition 11.1, and therefore be undergrad-eligible?

Argh, you're entirely correct. I apologize for my mistake (although the part about hoping Joey and anyone else we haven't previously seen at Nats joins us in NYC this year stands).

I find it odd that a senior who's played ACF fall throughout college but never played nats would still be D2 at fall yet not at nats.

Agreed. I continue to think D2 in ACF is a failed experiment.

So for ACF Nationals, are high schoolers not eligible for Division II?

Mewto55555 wrote:So for ACF Nationals, are high schoolers not eligible for Division II?

ACF has just ruled that high schoolers are not eligible for Division II at any ACF tournaments henceforth.