Which state is the best at Quizbowl?

[Jonty]

As a Texan, I frequently hear that Texas is the most competitive state for the quiz bowl. However, I'd love to hear what players across the country have to say. Which state do you believe is the best at quiz bowl?

[mrpotatokid]

Last year, it was the consensus that Illinois had the most competitive circuit in terms of number of national title contenders at the high school level. Most years California and Missouri are also really good. Virginia and Georgia are particularly good this year in addition to Texas.

[Jonty]

Thoughts on Maryland?

[quizbowlchamp1]

I have no clue about HS, but I can say with certainty that California is one of the best states in MSQB. As of December 31, 2024, California has 7(!) teams in the top 20.

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

Maryland and Virginia are always good

[CCMMSQB_2089]

Arguably, this is also influenced by strength of circuits/availability of Quiz Bowl in various states and interconnectedness of said states. You could argue that, for example, Clarke and Chenery were very strong in MS=MA is very strong, but they were also essentially two of a much smaller circuit back then, so from a team-population standpoint, it's not really feasible I think to count by sheer population (although yes, California has certainly produced some of the strongest teams I've had the pleasure of playing against, and Russ is certainly not wrong in that the state is a powerhouse; all of what has already been said is true and accurate, and I do agree with it all). That being said, I am from a state with very low tournament hosting activity at the HS level, and we end up travelling over state borders more often than not, so perhaps I am biased.

I think an alternative proposal is which region or circuit is the strongest, rather than which state is the best, but then there are all these holistic factors that have to be taken into account. If there's one takeaway from this, each region certainly has their own individual strengths, and thus a great advantage to playing online tournaments and occasional events outside your region if available certainly offers a wonderful diversity of competitive teams to play against.

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but that's my personal opinion on that.

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

Arguably, this is also influenced by strength of circuits/availability of Quiz Bowl in various states and interconnectedness of said states. You could argue that, for example, Clarke and Chenery were very strong in MS=MA is very strong, but they were also essentially two of a much smaller circuit back then, so from a team-population standpoint, it's not really feasible I think to count by sheer population (although yes, California has certainly produced some of the strongest teams I've had the pleasure of playing against, and Russ is certainly not wrong in that the state is a powerhouse; all of what has already been said is true and accurate, and I do agree with it all). That being said, I am from a state with very low tournament hosting activity at the HS level, and we end up travelling over state borders more often than not, so perhaps I am biased.

I think an alternative proposal is which region or circuit is the strongest, rather than which state is the best, but then there are all these holistic factors that have to be taken into account. If there's one takeaway from this, each region certainly has their own individual strengths, and thus a great advantage to playing online tournaments and occasional events outside your region if available certainly offers a wonderful diversity of competitive teams to play against.

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but that's my personal opinion on that.

If we're judging by region/circuit, the DMV area has my vote. Multiple powerhouse teams including RM, TJHSST, Montgomery Blair, and Winston Churchill call the DC/Maryland/Virginia region home.

[Metacarpal]

By region, the Northeast and while there are many other incredible circuits I don’t think this is particularly close - Lexington (please note the crimes they committed on FARSI - 14.6 powers per game and 27 PPB!), Belmont, Livingston, Hunter, Darien, Eastchester, Stuyvesant, and so many other amazing teams
By state, I would say it’s between Massachusetts, Georgia, and Illinois - Lexington again (this team is too good), Belmont, and Westwood are all very good at quizbowl, Georgia has Lambert, Innovation Academy, Johns Creek, and noted MSNCT winners from River Trail at Northview, while Illinois has Stevenson (both teams are cracked, especially the B team) and Fremd

[Stained Diviner]

With the new Groger Rankings out we can answer this question more objectively.

If you look at the top 300 teams, here are the states by how many teams and a point for each rank. (In the right column, being #1 is 300 points, #2 is 299 points, #3 is 298 points, etc.)
IL 45 5851
CA 28 4800
TX 24 3783
GA 19 3239
NJ 16 2373
VA 15 2092
KY 15 1808
OH 15 1569
PA 12 2106
NY 10 1722
MA 10 1573
MO 9 1505
MN 9 1312
MI 9 1275
IN 8 1011
MD 7 1652
CT 6 812
TN 6 738
AL 5 1104
OK 5 839
NC 5 798
FL 4 438
NV 4 413
ON 3 363
SC 2 329
DE 2 211
LA 1 289
DC 1 263
WA 1 252
AB 1 170
AZ 1 167
ID 1 153
WV 1 140

Here is the same thing for just the top 100 teams.
CA 14 517
IL 9 454
GA 8 478
TX 8 371
MD 6 306
VA 5 297
NY 5 288
NJ 5 272
PA 5 211
MO 4 231
AL 4 187
MA 3 232
MN 3 95
KY 3 26
IN 2 146
OK 2 146
TN 2 136
OH 2 115
MI 2 111
NC 2 60
LA 1 89
SC 1 87
CT 1 73
DC 1 63
WA 1 52
FL 1 12

[CCMMSQB_2089]

A brief consideration that circuit availability is lower in some states (i.e. few established programs. For instance, I could probably count on my fingers the amount of programs that are active in my home state). Though that certainly does not make IL's numbers any less impressive.

[quizbowlcaptain]

I would like to throw my state, Alabama, as well as Georgia into the ring. For MS, its Georgia hands down, there competition, between Riverwatch, River Trail and others, are incredibly talented. For HS, I think its closer, We have West Point, ASCTE, and Hoover, whereas Georgia has Lambert and North view. I think we win, but I'm biased.

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

Last year, it was the consensus that Illinois had the most competitive circuit in terms of number of national title contenders at the high school level. Most years California and Missouri are also really good. Virginia and Georgia are particularly good this year in addition to Texas.

Illinois also loses Barrington (bye bye Rohan and Charles) and Buffalo Grove (best HS player ever graduates) which is a huge hit to them

[Metacarpal]

We have West Point, ASCTE, and Hoover, whereas Georgia has Lambert and North view. I think we win, but I'm biased.

For MS I would say it's Cali because of Churchill Hopkins Ardenwood and other teams, for HS Georgia probably takes it because they have a lot more than just those two (IA, Johns Creek, Walker, other very cracked teams)

[ChrisFromGCity]

Yeah, Georgia has 19 teams in the T300 of Groger Ranks and we have five. I love us too but I think Georgia has us beat.

[quizbowlcaptain]

We have West Point, ASCTE, and Hoover, whereas Georgia has Lambert and North view. I think we win, but I'm biased.

For MS I would say it's Cali because of Churchill Hopkins Ardenwood and other teams, for HS Georgia probably takes it because they have a lot more than just those two (IA, Johns Creek, Walker, other very cracked teams)

Good point.

[IndianaMan13]

I would like to throw my state, Alabama, as well as Georgia into the ring. For MS, its Georgia hands down, there competition, between Riverwatch, River Trail and others, are incredibly talented. For HS, I think its closer, We have West Point, ASCTE, and Hoover, whereas Georgia has Lambert and North view. I think we win, but I'm biased.

Ain't no way bro left out IA and Johns Creek and Midtown and Riverwatch I'm dying.

As for quality, I'm not saying it's the best but Indiana definitely has one of the strongest pair of two best teams of any state, and at the very least three HSNCT playoffs contending teams not including the top two of Park and Carmel A. As for who actually is the best I'd say Georgia or Massachusetts, the latter of which is extra-impressive considering it's size and the fact it is itself part of a "top level" circuit (which is why I also think that we should stop considering the Northeast as one circuit when we compare them against each other but that's a post for another time). The best of the rest are I'd say California, Texas, and Illinois, who oddly, in stark contrast to their typical depth compared to the afformentioned top two, are all kinda held up by one elite team and a couple of very good but not nats contending teams.

For MS I'd say it's pretty clearly California with two of the pretty objective top four MS teams (Hopkins and Churchill) plus two other teams who have as good of a shot as anyone outside the big four at super seven (CSP and Challenger-Ardenwood). After that it's Georgia, also pretty clearly imo, then after that its kinda open to anybody with at least one elite team (NC, Tennessee, etc) or a lot of solid ones (insert example here I need to go actually focus on comp sci class now).

[quizbowllee]

I would like to throw my state, Alabama, as well as Georgia into the ring. For MS, its Georgia hands down, there competition, between Riverwatch, River Trail and others, are incredibly talented. For HS, I think its closer, We have West Point, ASCTE, and Hoover, whereas Georgia has Lambert and North view. I think we win, but I'm biased.

Alabama has a handful of really good teams. But, making any argument that Alabama is the strongest Quizbowl state is just patently absurd. But, I understand your desire to have our home state in the conversation.

[Metacarpal]

saying it is the best is not particularly absurd, it definitely has one of the best circuits in the country - Georgia objectively is just better than any other circuit though (besides maybe Massachusetts which is also really good)

[ChrisFromGCity]

I mean we have a really nice association in ASCA, but as far as elite teams go, like Mr. Henry said there's like five really good ones, and nobody in the Top 10.

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

saying it is the best is not particularly absurd, it definitely has one of the best circuits in the country - Georgia objectively is just better than any other circuit though (besides maybe Massachusetts which is also really good)

massachusetts will be even better in 2027 when the best team in the country is completely composed of seniors

[Metacarpal]

Georgia however has my glorious king Sheehan banka, yeah true though Lex will be so good in 2027

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

Georgia however has my glorious king Sheehan banka, yeah true though Lex will be so good in 2027

MA's jus gonna send Lexington's starting 4 to NASAT and they'll win

[quizbowlcaptain]

I would like to throw my state, Alabama, as well as Georgia into the ring. For MS, its Georgia hands down, there competition, between Riverwatch, River Trail and others, are incredibly talented. For HS, I think its closer, We have West Point, ASCTE, and Hoover, whereas Georgia has Lambert and North view. I think we win, but I'm biased.

Alabama has a handful of really good teams. But, making any argument that Alabama is the strongest Quizbowl state is just patently absurd. But, I understand your desire to have our home state in the conversation.

I mean we have a really nice association in ASCA, but as far as elite teams go, like Mr. Henry said there's like five really good ones, and nobody in the Top 10.

Bruh not my own state ganging up on me.

Just kidding tho, both of these people are well respected in Alabama and I agree with both of y'all. I will say that Georgia, Texas, and California are better than us. We just don't play at the level of some of the other teams in other state.