The Quizbowl Resource Center

pace-nsc.org wrote:The Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence is proud to announce that the 2017 National Scholastic Championship (NSC) will be held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare on June 10-11, 2017.

The Hyatt Regency O’Hare has been the site of the 2016 NSC, as well as numerous quizbowl national championships. PACE looks forward to continuing our partnership to bring teams a high-quality tournament in the NSC tradition.

The tournament will be directed by Gaurav Kandlikar, and the set will be head edited by Rob Carson.

More details can be found on the PACE website about the tournament, qualification guidelines, and how to register once qualified.

Registration opens on November 1 for all qualified teams. The tournament field has historically filled up to the cap of 96 teams, so we encourage teams to start the registration process as early as possible.

We look forward to seeing you in Chicago!

Happy new year! We remind qualified teams to register soon if they have not already.

Wildcard bids are now open for teams who have not qualified through qualifier tournaments. To submit a wildcard bid, email PACE’s Wild Card Coordinator, Ian Drayer, at [email protected] with the following: team name, contact information, and a summary of the team’s accomplishments throughout the year.

We are expecting many registrations to come in during February, so we recommend that qualified teams complete their registration soon to guarantee a spot in the NSC field!

In addition, if you're interested in staffing the NSC, let us know. Interested staffers who are not affiliated with a registered team can contact [email protected] for more details.

69 teams have filled out the form expressing interest in attending the NSC. Of those teams, 41 have paid at least a deposit, which means that we are holding a spot for them. This is the time of year when we get a lot of registrations, so act soon if you want to get your team in the tournament.

83 teams have filled out the form expressing interest in attending the NSC. Of those teams, 49 have paid at least a deposit, which means that we are holding a spot for them.

90 teams have filled out the form, and 53 teams have sent in at least a deposit.

We offer an early registration discount of $25 to teams that make full payment by March 1. If you are paying by check, we go by the postmark. If you are paying by Paypal, we go by when you pay.

We also have a new policy this year:

Teams in the top 25 of the HSQBRank rankings (newest as of registration day) and who have otherwise qualified at that date have reserved spots in the field for 2 weeks after registration.

Of the 25 teams in the latest ranking, 21 of them have already filled out the registration form, so this policy probably will have only a small overall impact, but it could make a difference for a few teams.

Hi, as of Sunday we have reached our field cap of 96 registered teams. There are currently 3 teams on the waitlist.

I see there are some pretty good teams on the waitlist.. Is there any chance the field will expand?

Father Comstock wrote:I see there are some pretty good teams on the waitlist.. Is there any chance the field will expand?

Field expansion is not an option we're considering for the 2017 NSC due to logistical limitations, but it is something we are keeping on the table for future NSCs.

serasuna wrote:

Father Comstock wrote:I see there are some pretty good teams on the waitlist.. Is there any chance the field will expand?

Field expansion is not an option we're considering for the 2017 NSC due to logistical limitations, but it is something we are keeping on the table for future NSCs.

I only asked because Dublin Scioto is #22 on HSQBrank but unfortunately waitlisted, and I love their team. Thanks for the very quick response!

Several deadlines are coming up:

If you want to be guaranteed to receive the hotel room block discount, you should reserve rooms today or tomorrow. Follow our hotel link.

The full entry fee is due by May 6. We still have a lot of teams that have paid the deposit but not the rest of the entry fee, and those teams have a week to pay the rest if they want to avoid late fees.

If you want a shirt, buy it before the tournament using Booster. The deadline is May 17. When you purchase a shirt, you have the option of having the shirt shipped directly to you or picking up the shirt at the tournament. It is a little more expensive if you have it shipped to you, but PACE is happy either way. Keep in mind that anybody can buy a shirt whether or not they attend NSC, and this is a fundraiser for PACE that will help us with our Outreach Fund and Morgan Costa-Rhodes Scholarship.

Teams will get an email asking for rosters in a few weeks. Keep in mind that our roster limit is six students.

Big Y wrote:If you want to be guaranteed to receive the hotel room block discount, you should reserve rooms today or tomorrow. Follow our hotel link.

The deadline for reserving a room at the discounted PACE rate has been extended to this Sunday.

Is there going to be a coaches conference this year?

Cheynem wrote:Is there going to be a coaches conference this year?

Yes. It will be Friday night again. We do not yet have a lot of the specifics worked out, and we will make announcements when we do.

The shirt offer ends at midnight EST tonight. You know what to do.

The following email was sent to team representatives:
-----
Dear team representatives,

Greetings! PACE is eager to welcome you to the 2017 National Scholastic Championship at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare next weekend in Chicago.

Please read through the below text carefully, as it contains important information regarding this weekend's logistics. Please feel free to contact Gaurav Kandlikar at [email protected] with any questions or if your team status or composition has changed.

Before the tournament: Verify team rosters
Please verify your team’s rosters and JV/Small School status at the PACE NSC 2017 website. Email Gaurav Kandlikar at [email protected] with any changes ASAP.

Tournament Schedule
An overview schedule of the 2017 PACE NSC is now available online.

Team Check-in
Teams may check-in on Friday evening 6:00 to 9:00pm, or Saturday morning 7:00 to 7:45am. Check-in will be held in the foyer outside the Rosemont Ballroom, on the Entrance Level.
At check-in, teams will receive an information envelope containing a schedule and other logistical information, and team buzzers will be collected.
Given the short check-in window on Saturday, we encourage teams arriving on Friday to use the Friday window to check-in.
In the event that your team fails to check-in by Saturday 7:45am, please visit the PACE NSC Help Desk in the Lobby Level Atrium for late check-in. Teams that check-in late risk their spot in the field, and may be replaced with a standby team.
PACE is not formally organizing scrimmages on Friday night. Teams should feel free to organize such scrimmages on their own in their hotel rooms.

David Riley Coaches Conference
NSC attendees are also invited to attend the annual David Riley Coaches Conference, which will be held Friday evening 7:00 to 9:00pm in the Hartsfield room. This year’s conference will replicate the success of the 2016 coaches conference.

Opening meeting
NSC formally kicks off on Saturday at 8:00am with an opening meeting in Rosemont Ballroom. All teams are expected to attend.
The opening meeting will include an overview of the tournament schedule, important rule reminders, and other guidelines.
At the opening meeting, Fred Morlan will be awarded the 2017 Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award, and Jackie Wu of Downingtown High School East will be awarded the 2017 Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award. More on this year's Cooper winners and the Cooper Awards is available online.

Game Schedule
All teams are guaranteed at least 15 rounds of gameplay at the PACE NSC. All teams will play 12 rounds (7 prelim + 5 playoff) on Saturday, and at least 3 placement rounds on Sunday. Saturday rounds are projected to end at 6:00pm, and Sunday placement rounds are projected to end at 10:15am.
As in previous years, the 96 teams will be divided into four playoff tiers of 24 teams each. This year, teams that finish after playoffs at the top of Tier II will have the opportunity to compete against bottom Tier I teams to climb in ranking up to 17th place. Details on tier-crossing will be made available online before the tournament.

All Star Game
We encourage all participants to stay through the All-Star Game, which will feature eight standout players from the tournament competing on questions designed to be challenging and engaging to the players and audience members. The winning All-Star team will earn the opportunity to choose from a list of charities to which PACE will donate $400 on the students’ behalf, and we will donate $100 for the other team’s charity.

Social Media
Share your experience on social media with the hashtag #PACENSC. With the exception of the finals, no question content may be posted on social media out of concerns for question security between concurrent game rooms.

A liveblog on our Twitter account @PACENSC will follow select games over the course of the tournament. A livestream on our YouTube channel will broadcast the Cooper Awards ceremony at the opening meeting, select superplayoff games (on a delay), the tournament finals, the all-star game, and the awards ceremony.

Dress code
There is no official dress code for NSC. Teams have historically attended in clothing ranging from everyday clothes to matching team T-shirts to suits.

Ethics
The 2017 PACE NSC will abide by the PACE guidelines on Ethics and Conduct listed here. The PACE membership and leadership encourage students, coaches, and viewers to participate in a spirit of camaraderie and healthy competition.

Emergencies
In the event of an emergency during the tournament or an emergency affecting your attendance at the tournament, please contact tournament director Gaurav Kandlikar at [REDACTED].

Reminders
The 2017 NSC will be operating under the official PACE ruleset.
According to Rule A4 of the PACE NSC, a team may include no more than six (6) players on its rosters.

Each year, the participants in the NSC All-Star Game play for a $500 donation to two charities ($400 to the winning team's charity, and $100 to the losing team's charity). This year, PACE has selected a list of charities for the NSC All-Star teams to choose from, spanning academic, environmental, medical, and quizbowl causes. Each of these charities has a worthy cause and a proven track record of successful charitable giving. We hope that this list highlights the important work being done by many different charities.

Adopt A Classroom -- Adopt A Classroom gives money to classrooms so that teachers don't have to purchase supplies for their classrooms; currently, 60% of all school supplies are purchased by teachers themselves, and the average teacher will spend $600 a year on school supplies.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention -- AFSP funds research on suicide prevention, mental health awareness in schools, and screening programs to connect people with support.

Appalachian Trail Conservancy -- The Appalachian Trail Conservancy seeks to preserve and manage the Appalachian Trail, ensuring that its beauty is kept for generations of hikers and travelers to come.

Audubon Society -- The Audubon Society works to protect birds and bird habitats across the United States. They also publish important information about bird-watching and bird conservation, including a widely-read Guide to North American Birds.

Communities in Schools -- Communities in Schools aims to reduce dropout rates within public schools through partnerships with local organizations. In 2015, 99% of CIS students stayed in school, in comparison to the national rate of 93%, and 93% of CIS students graduated, in comparison to the national rate of 82%.

Damon Runyan Cancer Research Foundation -- Damon Runyan identifies talented early career cancer researchers and gives them the money they need to work towards cures.

First Book -- First Book provides books and other school supplies to classrooms and community literacy programs. They've received multiple awards for their work in improving child literacy and access to education.

Matt's Buzzers -- Matt's Buzzers makes yearly grants to quizbowl teams around the country to allow them to purchase buzzer systems. The grants are made in the memory of Matt Cvijanovich, a dedicated quizbowl player for Iowa State and Illinois who passed away in 2005.

The Posse Foundation -- The Posse Foundation selects students with significant academic and leadership potential from communities that are traditionally overlooked by the college admissions process, and places them in support groups of 10 students to attend college together, all on a four-year full-tuition scholarship. Posse Foundation scholars have a four-year graduation rate of 90%, well above the national average.

Scholarship America -- Scholarship America is the nation's largest college scholarship fund, donating more than $3.5 billion in college aid since 1958. They help administer college scholarship programs through private companies and community organizations.

Wilderness Inquiry -- Wilderness Inquiry runs adventure travel trips for everyone from kids to seniors to people with disabilities. They have generous need-based financial aid programs to allow organizations that might not otherwise be able to afford these trips to participate.

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The first team listed in Amazon is A1, the second team in Brahmaputra is B2, and so on.

Tier 1

Amazon
Barrington
Ithaca A
LASA
La Jolla
Dorman
Ladue A

Brahmaputra
Chattahoochee A
Stevenson A
St. John's
IMSA
Washington A
Mather

Congo
Naperville North
Thomas Jefferson (VA) A
Detroit Catholic Central A
Canyon Crest Academy A
Lisgar A
Detroit Country Day

Darling
Westview
Hunter A
Homestead
Dublin Scioto
Richard Montgomery
Detroit Catholic Central B

Tier 2

Euphrates
High Tech A
Northview
Sidney
Woodford County
Lempa
Strake Jesuit

Fly
Maggie Walker
Rancho Bernardo
St. Thomas
Hunter B
Rockford Auburn
Waubonsie Valley

Ganges
Lehigh Valley
Beavercreek
Danville
NCSSM
Chattahoochee B
Mountain Lakes

Harlem
Canyon Crest Academy B
Thomas Jefferson (VA) B
Rock Bridge A
Southside A
Loyola
Davis

Tier 3

Irrawaddy
Phillips Academy
Fisher Catholic
Metea Valley
High Tech B
Wayzata
Washington B

Jordan
Singapore American
Middlesex County Academy
Glasgow
Collins Hill
St. Joseph
Northmont

Kaveri
University Lab
Johns Creek
Ladue B
Dunbar B
Cathedral Catholic
Trinity

Loire
Dunbar A
William Henry Harrison
Carbondale
Homewood-Flossmoor
Ed W. Clark
Detroit Catholic Central C

Tier 4

Mississippi
Miami Valley
Simon Kenton
Norman
Lisgar B
Pi-oneers
Rock Bridge B

Nile
Thomas Jefferson (VA) C
Thomas Jefferson (MO)
Utica Academy
Northwest
Cupertino
Hannibal

Orinoco
Ithaca B
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
Carl Sandburg
Southside B
Olentangy Liberty
Amador Valley

Pasig
Marist School
Orchard Farm
Keith Country Day
Wilmington Charter
Stevenson B
Emma Willard

We appear to have crashed Neg5, so we've switched back to good ol' SQBS. Through the terrific work of Jeff Hill, Ian Drayer, and Joe Su, prelim stats are now posted.

Tiebreakers are not included, but here were the tiebreakers to make it into top 24:
Elm: Ladue defeated Hunter-B 230-120, then defeated Lehigh Valley 200-100 to advance.
Magnolia: Richard Montgomery defeated St. John's 320-60, then St. John's defeated Rancho Bernardo 290-60. Both winners advanced.
Oak: Detroit Country Day defeated Sidney 200-140.

jonpin wrote:We appear to have crashed Neg5, so we've switched back to good ol' SQBS. Through the terrific work of Jeff Hill, Ian Drayer, and Joe Su, prelim stats are now posted.

Heroes.

Small Schools update:
Five such teams made the second tier. In alphabetical order, they are Danville, Lehigh Valley, Mountain Lakes, Sidney, and Southside A. I will update at the end of the night with the potential for finals.

JV update:
Ladue A is the only JV team to make the top tier. They haven't quite clinched the title yet, as Northview and Strake Jesuit lurk in the second tier. If either of them win the Euphrates group, they might have a chance to challenge for the title. Those three teams will be 1-2-3 in some order.

Can someone confirm for me which teams are carrying losses into tomorrow's final eight?

etchdulac wrote:Can someone confirm for me which teams are carrying losses into tomorrow's final eight?

Superplayoff seeds.

In the top superplayoff bracket:
- Dublin Scioto carries over a win against Westview
- Detroit Catholic Central A carries over a win against TJ A (VA)
- *IMSA A carries over a win against Chattahoochee A
- Barrington carries over a win against La Jolla

In the second superplayoff bracket:
- Canyon Crest Academy A carries over a win against Naperville
- Dorman carries over a win against LASA
- Stevenson A carries over a win against St. John's
- Hunter A carries over a win against Homestead

*This is the only win out of those listed where the second place team in a playoff bracket carries a win over against a first place team from that playoff bracket.

Just a quick word on stats: if you have any corrections, whether to names or to stats, please email me and we'll try to take a look at the scoresheet. Because of the rushed switch to SQBS, we were using a slightly old version of rosters, so some corrections that we made at check-in may need to be repeated. And there were a few cases where the tab room discovered math errors that caused us to change the final score of a game from what may have been announced in the game room. Please note that for statistical purposes, the scoresheet is considered the official record, so a requested correction may not be made if it does not jive with what's on the paper.

Good luck tomorrow, everyone!

jonpin wrote:Small Schools update:
Five such teams made the second tier. In alphabetical order, they are Danville, Lehigh Valley, Mountain Lakes, Sidney, and Southside A. I will update at the end of the night with the potential for finals.

JV update:
Ladue A is the only JV team to make the top tier. They haven't quite clinched the title yet, as Northview and Strake Jesuit lurk in the second tier. If either of them win the Euphrates group, they might have a chance to challenge for the title. Those three teams will be 1-2-3 in some order.

Small Schools: Southside A was the only small school team to win their afternoon group and make the top 28. Therefore, they win the Small School title outright. The rest of the small schools also sorted themselves into different Sunday groups, so Lehigh Valley will be second place and Danville is third place.

JV: Neither team below them qualified for the tier-crossing groups, so Ladue has clinched the JV title. Northview finished higher in their afternoon group, so they will take second, and Strake Jesuit earns third.

There will not be any additional games needed for either of these titles.

Congratulations to all the above teams on their performances!

I can't tell if this is just happening for me, but the livestream has been stuck on the same game between chattahoochee and westview for the past 30 minutes now.

It is being worked on. Hope to resolve it ASAP.

Off To See The Lizard wrote:I can't tell if this is just happening for me, but the livestream has been stuck on the same game between chattahoochee and westview for the past 30 minutes now.

Hopefully will be working better now.

the livestream still isn't working

Please describe what actually is happening with it.

AKKOLADE wrote:Please describe what actually is happening with it.

For me, the stream only plays content in 5-10 second bursts. I hear Niki Peters read, like, a sentence and half of a tossup; the screen freezes up; it stays that way for minutes, until there's another weird staccato fragment. It's like I'm watching bebop quizbowl.

vengefulsweatermensch wrote:For me, the stream only plays content in 5-10 second bursts. I hear Niki Peters read, like, a sentence and half of a tossup; the screen freezes up; it stays that way for minutes, until there's another weird staccato fragment. It's like I'm watching bebop quizbowl.

I believe we've maxed out the bandwidth on the hotel's wifi network. Apologies for the quality! We're working to improve it as best as we can today, and a better quality livestream is definitely something that we will discuss for next year's NSC. In the meantime, liveblogs continue to function on Twitter.

Congratulations to Detroit Catholic Central High School A of Novi, Michigan, the 2017 PACE NSC champions! They have won NSC by virtue of clearing the top superplayoff bracket.

Hi everyone!

First, congrats to Detroit Catholic Central A (MI) for winning the 2017 PACE NSC! Westview (CA) and Barrington (IL) round out the top 3 spots. Congratulations also to Southside for earning the Top Small School title and to Ladue A for earning the Top JV Team title!

Thanks to all teams for coming, for coaches and parents for bringing your students to the NSC, and to all staffers and question writers who made the event possible.

Once finalized, complete stats for the tournament will be available at this link. Please email NSC Stats Director Jon Pinyan at [email protected] with any corrections.

Tournament/Question Feedback
We encourage you to share feedback about the tournament and question set on the hsquizbowl forums or directly with the tournament director Gaurav Kandlikar ([email protected]).

NSC Photos and Videos
Videos of selected games from the PACE NSC are available online. More high quality video and photographs, including those from the awards ceremony, will be available later this week.

Lost Items
Please email Gaurav Kandlikar if you think you lost any items at the Hyatt Regency. We will turn in any unclaimed items from the game rooms to the Hyatt Regency security before Monday (12 June) morning.

2018 PACE NSC
We hope you had a great time this weekend, and hope to see you again at the 2018 PACE-NSC in Reston, Virginia!

A huge thanks to Gaurav for running the tournament and to the many people who staffed. This tournament was successful because a lot of great people did great work.

We also want to thank the teams who came out and showed us why they are the best teams in the country. A big congratulations goes out to DCC, who became the first team to finish the tournament undefeated since 2010 State College.

Rob will start a thread about the questions at some point in the not too distant future for those of you who want to discuss question content, and the questions will be made public before too long.

Jason Russell of NHBB showed up to the NSC with 26 buzzer systems, which was a great help. Thank you to Jason and NHBB!

All games that took place at NSC presently have stats posted on the HSQB/DB. Games that were part of group play are listed in "Prelims", "Playoffs", or "Sunday" as appropriate, and all three of those are gathered together in "Combined". All other matches (post-round 7 minimatch TBs; post-round 12 TBs; the round 18 placement games for 17th-28th place; and post-round 18 TBs) are listed in the "Tiebreakers and Finals" report.

If you have any corrections to report, please do so by the end of this week, so that I can investigate them and (if ratified) make adjustments to the record. To help with the process of verifying any corrections, please be as specific and thorough as possible. For instance, if you are disputing the final score, please give the "box score" for the game; that is, each person's tossup line, and each team's total bonus and steal scores. If you are disputing the crediting of tossups, be clear as to who is gaining and who is losing. In any event, please include the round number and (if possible) the group name, to make it easier to find the game. As a general rule, I am much more willing to believe claims of the form "These tossups were answered by Adam, but were credited to Barry" when they come from Barry or the team's coach than when they come from Adam. Send corrections either to my gmail (preferred), or via PM on this forum.

Once any corrections are done, I'll generate a single stat report with everything and annotate it as per previous years. I hope to have that done by the end of this coming weekend. However, I do ask for your patience, as my school year isn't quite over, and I have dozens of finals to grade!

Big Y wrote:All-Star Game

FYI a $400 donation has been made to the Audubon Society and a $100 donation to Adopt a Classroom as per the results of the All-Star Game.

Mike Bentley wrote:FYI a $400 donation has been made to the Audubon Society

Since this is related to the logistics of this year's NSC, I am going to post this here.

This tournament's Saturday rounds were, for lack of a better word, disappointing. We went well over the time scheduled in Washington B's prelim bracket (we were almost 2 hours late, and had played 4 matches by 12:30), and I could tell nearly every other team in our bracket was pretty disappointed with the delays as well. (Note: I am NOT talking about the delay before our round 4 match. That was understandable, as it involved resolving a gameplay issue) I wasn't able to join my team for lunch until almost 3 PM. (Side note: 30 minute rounds seems to be a bit too ambitious. I know it's possible to do that, but planning for 35 seems to be a safer idea)

I would like to know: what is PACE going to commit to doing to resolve the delays that happened during the Saturday rounds this year for future NSCs?

1992 in spaceflight wrote:I would like to know: what is PACE going to commit to doing to resolve the delays that happened during the Saturday rounds this year for future NSCs?

There can be no firm answer at this point because PACE has not had a meeting to discuss these issues. Rest assured, though, scheduling & the delays are at the top of our list.

Cody wrote:

1992 in spaceflight wrote:I would like to know: what is PACE going to commit to doing to resolve the delays that happened during the Saturday rounds this year for future NSCs?

There can be no firm answer at this point because PACE has not had a meeting to discuss these issues. Rest assured, though, scheduling & the delays are at the top of our list.

I knew I forgot to include something in that post (that I didn't expect an immediate answer). And thanks, it is reassuring and good to hear that those are on the top of the PACE discussion list.

Videos from the 2017 PACE NSC are available on our YouTube channel. Click [CC] on the bottom right corner to enable captions on select videos.
- 2nd place tiebreaker match: Barrington (IL) vs Westview (CA), All-Star Game, awards ceremony (+captions)
- 6th place tiebreaker match: IMSA A (IL) vs La Jolla (CA) (+captions)
- selected superplayoff matches
- Cooper Awards ceremony at opening meeting (+captions)

And don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

1992 in spaceflight wrote:Since this is related to the logistics of this year's NSC, I am going to post this here.

This tournament's Saturday rounds were, for lack of a better word, disappointing. We went well over the time scheduled in Washington B's prelim bracket (we were almost 2 hours late, and had played 4 matches by 12:30), and I could tell nearly every other team in our bracket was pretty disappointed with the delays as well. (Note: I am NOT talking about the delay before our round 4 match. That was understandable, as it involved resolving a gameplay issue) I wasn't able to join my team for lunch until almost 3 PM. (Side note: 30 minute rounds seems to be a bit too ambitious. I know it's possible to do that, but planning for 35 seems to be a safer idea)

I would like to know: what is PACE going to commit to doing to resolve the delays that happened during the Saturday rounds this year for future NSCs?

We apologize for the delays in your team's preliminary rounds, which were caused by quirks in that particular bracket. In future NSCs, we will allot more time for preliminary rounds; your suggestion of 35 minutes per round is a good one.

The final statistics have been compiled and organized into a single document here. I'll now be taking a look to see if any single-game or tournament-long performances will earn a space in the PACE NSC record book.