2009-10 Preseason Top 50

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

I have started publishing my preseason top 50 high school quiz bowl teams. You may find the first post on the front page of this website (http://www.hsquizbowl.org) or, if you prefer, the direct link here.

Feel free to mock me in this thread.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Neat. Looking forward to reading actual analysis of teams/players instead of just a big list.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

There will be analysis in the future.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

No, that's the point i was making, instead of just reading teams/people rank schools, you're actually going to make relevant and informative comments on them.

And i'm looking forward to reading it. It'll be cool.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Sorry, my bad, CHRZ.

Reading is fundamental, kids!

[Inkana7]

Wow, a mention! I'll take "deserve some mention" any day.

[Eccles cake]

Pensacola will try to pull some black horse wins a la Ransom Everglades next year. Watch out.

[master15625]

WAit, so the teams you have mentioned so far are not actually in your list of top 50 necessarily, am I correct?

[Emily Krok]

WAit, so the teams you have mentioned so far are not actually in your list of top 50 necessarily, am I correct?

They are not on the list, yes. They're "just missed" schools.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

I omitted a couple of schools on accident that I meant to put in the Just Missed post. Sorry, skipped school! But you're in there now.

First 10 should be posted tonight.

[t-bar]

So will they be posted 10 at a time? If so, how frequently will new posts be made?

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

They'll be done on a "when I can" basis. Hopefully most, if not all, will be done this week but we shall see. I start school next week (meaning I must fight the financial aid department) and also have to manage personal stuff as well.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

41 through 50 are now up.

[mhawlik]

Completely agree with Kay in that Pensacola (and Ransom Everglades, for that matter, even though we have lost some key players) are definitely capable of making some waves next year from an area of the country not necessarily known for good quizbowl

Will be looking upon this next HS quizbowl season with great interest!

[master15625]

41 through 50 are now up.

I didn't know you would be very detailed and specific with regards to names and statistics. That is really awesome that you have the resources to attempt to rank teams.

[Vernon Lee Bad Marriage, Jr.]

Out of curiosity, is St. Anselm's being considered in this list? Aidan and I played PACE, but only five rounds of it.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Out of curiosity, is St. Anselm's being considered in this list? Aidan and I played PACE, but only five rounds of it.

Yes.

[Just a Guy Made Of Dots and Lines]

By the way, where are the statistics from, for those that aren't listed?

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

HSNCT or NSC as appropriate. I don't believe I've done stats for a team that went to both yet.

[Alliance in the Alps]

Ooh very very cool. I love reading analyses...and I'd like to hear, for once, thoughts about Ohio teams from non-Ohioans.

[New York Undercover]

This maybe just me, but the font on the blog is just really hard to read. It looks like it's zoomed out too much but zooming in doesn't help that much.
Is anyone else having this problem? I'm using chrome

Edit: actually zooming in so that about half of the page fits on my screen, in terms of width, works. But that seems like a ridiculous solution.

[Ringil]

It was cool to read that my team was put under really good team category (at least last year)

I hope to see this continued

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Out of curiosity, is St. Anselm's being considered in this list? Aidan and I played PACE, but only five rounds of it.

Yes.

You darn well better be considered! We talked about this a lot on last Sunday in Richmond Matt, but you and Aidan are going to be kicking some butt this year. Hopefully, just not ours...

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

This maybe just me, but the font on the blog is just really hard to read. It looks like it's zoomed out too much but zooming in doesn't help that much.
Is anyone else having this problem? I'm using chrome

Edit: actually zooming in so that about half of the page fits on my screen, in terms of width, works. But that seems like a ridiculous solution.

Is this when you're just at the home page, when you've clicked into an individual post, or both?

[New York Undercover]

both
for some comparison, this is what i see at normal zoom and this is the zoom I need in order to be able read the font clearly.

[The Motley Eye]

both
for some comparison, this is what i see at normal zoom and this is the zoom I need in order to be able read the font clearly.

It seems to be rendering ok, but let me install Chrome and see how it compares.

Edit: Ok, yeah, Chrome doesn't like some of the fonts in the stylesheet. I've removed the offending entries; take a look and let me know if that is more acceptable.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

And now you can find 31 to 40 here!

[Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County]

37. Walt Whitman (MD) - They lose Daniel’s 71.43 ppg from their NSC team, but Douglas’s 76.43 ppg return. He’s also been visible in attempts to improve this summer.

You do realize that we also lose Seth and Madara, which leaves an enormous void where science used to be unless one of our freshmen is studying like a maniac?

[Eccles cake]

I have a feeling Pensacola isn't going to get ranked. *Shake fiesta.*

[master15625]

I am just wondering how you are able to figure out whether a person is returning? Is there like a list of people who graduated?

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Research.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

40. Caesar Rodney (DE) - They return a very committed player in Trey (41.77 ppg at HSNCT, 55.71 at NSC) and Coach Chrzanowski who is one of the most active new coaches around. I’m being conservative with this ranking, as they have a very good chance to jump multiple spots if they continue to improve. The addition of a steady cast around Trey would be key as well.

I definitely can dig our #40 ranking. Just to let you know, Fred, this is one of those years where teams would say "this is our year," because of who we have. Doesn't mean we're going to be awesome, but let's just say we'll drop off a bit next year for sure. Obviously you know Trey who can basically get anything but science and trash (at times), but to let you know who else is solidly on the A Team (you can see we had to bring two different groups to both Nationals)... Seth is a senior who gets basically all the science questions eventually and memorizes any list he studies hard enough, Ryan is a senior who fills in the knowledge gaps from Trey, and Alexa is a sophomore who remembers stuff that the other three seem to habitually forget. We're going to have days when all four of them can't come to things (track and field, marching band, TSA, and cross country will get in the way), however, but Trey is the one who has fewer excuses than most and should be coming to everything.

Needless to say, it's cool to be in a ranking like this. We've put up 20ppb every once in while on HSAPQ packets this summer (usually around 18), so once we can hit that number with consistency, i think we could make some waves.

[Emily Krok]

I certainly wouldn't rank us any higher than 38th, because the actually really good history player we had [Alex] has graduated. We're going to be very, very uneven. So far I completely agree with this list, although I might've put Whitman a little better than 37th.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Research.

To give an actual response: I put the player's name in Google or Facebook with the school, computer goes beep boop boo beep, I get results.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Next 10: here.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Reading this next grouping really makes me realize that with all the amazing players from '08-'09 that graduated (Daichi, Guy, Henry, Ian, etc.), the talent pool of "really good" quizbowl players has started to expand across the country much more than i initially thought. There are good teams all over the place. Okay, i know that in Fred's top ten there are going to be a lot from the traditional Mid-Atlantic area (and plus the couple other usual suspects), but in terms of the not-quite-top-tier teams, there's a bunch nationwide. That's good for quizbowl. Very neat.

[Tanay]

26. Bellarmine (CA) - Both their A and B team made the playoffs at HSNCT, and they both return notable scorers. Tanay (26.19) and Vinay (15.15) from their A team and Nikhil (21.66), Phil (21.43 - in just 4.5 games) and Ankit (15.67) from their B team return. This team definitely has youth on their side.

I'm beyond stoked to see us on this list! Last year was our first year traveling out of the Bay Area to compete, and I hope we can pose a challenge to massive regional powerhouses like Mission San Jose despite our rather young (2 sophomores, 2 juniors, and a senior) returning core. It's flattering to be in the top 30, but I think everyone needs to keep an eye out for Mission San Jose as the team to beat in the area, with essentially their entire A team returning. In terms of the way the area will shape up as a whole, expect to be confused and for results and rankings to change fairly constantly. The top four teams last year were Mission A, Mission B, Bellarmine A, and Bellarmine B, and each team lost to each other at least once (each school only played 3-4 tournaments against the other, so this is statistically significant). You might even see Mission B, which (I think...) had a winning record against Mission A last year, far surpass their performance from last year. In short, Mission is the better team at the beginning of the season, but there's a lot of potential for new powers (Berkeley, ranked 46th in the Morlan Preseason Rankings, which hardly did real quiz bowl before this year) to emerge in this newly powerful quiz bowl haven.

[Eccles cake]

23. Pensacola (FL) - David (46.73 ppg @ HSNCT) and Kay (23.83) return from a team with a 14.71 ppb. Depth will be needed for a very deep run at nationals, but as is this is a solid team.

I'm honored to have Pensacola so highly ranking though I do feel it's a little undeserved. We have some pretty good rising juniors, but overall I'd say that we don't have very good depth of knowledge. We didn't get that many powers, and 30% of the ones we did were on comp math (hehehe). I think we have good players all around; and if we focus on learning deeper on what we do know, we can win. I'd say we'd be in the high twenties and low thirties. But then again, I haven't done so much research on other teams; and I trust that you know what you're doing here.

EDIT: I guess our dearth of powers can be explained by the amount of focus we have on CAC. Down with CAC!

[Dresden_The_BIG_JERK]

I'm getting to the thread a little late, but...

I must say that I'm unsurprised to see a glut of Illinois teams in the "just missed" section...that is simply where Illinois is right now as a quizbowl state. The one that I would argue however is Rockford Auburn. Despite losing a couple of excellent players, they have (as Auburn as does) many rising stars to take their place. I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see Auburn do well on a large scale this year.

All around, great list so far...I'm excited to see the top 20!

[Vernon Lee Bad Marriage, Jr.]

Wow, 25? That's not bad at all. Let's see if we can get some of those top 20 teams (TJ, I'm looking at you).

[BRizzle]

I'm very honored to even be ranked in the top 50 but we are way overated, even if our entire team has been studying very hard this summer and has fairly good balance. While we return everyone on the team that won the lowest PACE bracket (top 3 being sophomores), our showing at the HSNCT was very weak (11 ppb, 5-5 record, 2 powers... ). While we are definitely better at PACE/HSAPQ questions and have improved a lot since then, our record simply does not hold up to the teams around us. Knowing Walnut Hills, they are better than us and I think we are about at the level of Solon right now. However, it is great our name has finally got around, especially considering that we used to be that team that was proud of putting up 100 points on an A set. Working to be in the top 25 would be a great goal for us.

[Kanga-Rat Murder Society]

I'm getting to the thread a little late, but...

I must say that I'm unsurprised to see a glut of Illinois teams in the "just missed" section...that is simply where Illinois is right now as a quizbowl state. The one that I would argue however is Rockford Auburn. Despite losing a couple of excellent players, they have (as Auburn as does) many rising stars to take their place. I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see Auburn do well on a large scale this year.

All around, great list so far...I'm excited to see the top 20!

You are doing a great job with the rankings, but BJ is right. It appears that you are basing all of your rankings off of national tournament results, which is perfectly understandable. However, with Illinois this does not tell the whole story.

Loyola: You ranked Loyola mainly off their HSNCT results. The problem with this is that their stats are inflated because Jack and Joe were graduating when Nolan and Marcel scored the majority of their points. The team lost their first four games after Joe left, leading to a couple of easy games. These two games are where Marcel scored 120 of his 145 points. Christian is by far the best player on this team, and is better than his HSNCT stats indicate. They have an improving, young supporting cast will make them contenders in Illinois. That said, I would think they probably belong in the Mid 40s, not the mid 30s.

Auburn: If you have not seen them play, it would be tough to realize how good Zahed and Lloyd are. After all, neither Lloyd nor Zahed broke 8 PP20TH at HSNCT. These two are both better than I am (and I had about 24 PP20TH). The best stats I can give you to prove this are these http://www.illinoisabt.org/results/2009 ... dings.html from UIUC Solo, but even these do not give Auburn justice. Considering how hard Auburn always works, this team is certainly worthy of being a top 50 overall team.

Andrew Deveau: I do not know what school he will be going to this year (St. Ignatius or Maine South), but wherever he goes should be a Top 50 team. Andrew Deveau is a rising Junior who went to Maine South last year. He did not attend HSNCT, thus probably explaining why he is not on the list. He has played good quizbowl before and he puts up good stats:
http://results.scobo.net/SQBS.aspx?org= ... =standings . As one can see, he put 11-60-19 in 9 games on HSAPQ ACF-3 (the stats against NT are not working). Most of those negs were almost solely from inexperience, which will not be a problem this year. He also played well at NT Varsity: ttp://org.newtrier.k12.il.us/activities ... l.html#t20 . He put up 48 PPG, and led his team to victories over BG (twice) and Northmont (ranked #21 in the Morlan 50, though it was not their best lineup). His only losses were to Carbondale, Loyola, and WWS (by 15). I feel confident saying that whatever team he is on will be a Top 40 team in the country.

Stevenson: This team is the toughest to get a read on. They are led by Zach Blummenfeld, a talented rising Junior. I have played them on multiple times, and I am positive that he was better than we were. That said, his good quizbowl experience is limited and stats are not that impressive. If follow the link to NT Varsity, you will see that Zach put up 36 PPG, the highest on his team. Stevenson got 4th at this tournament (despite what SQBS says), so I think this is pretty impressive. He also played at Loyola's Frosh-Soph tournament, which is played on an A-Set. He put up 108 PPG without negs, and led his team to the tournament title. Morning stats are here: http://www.aegisquestions.com/DGT3/DGT3_standings.html
The scariest part about Zach is that he has never really made quizbowl a top priority. He just relies on the fact that he is really smart (he did get a 36 on the ACT in the eighth grade), and went through one of the best school systems in the country. His team also returns Julia, who is a good humanities player. My personal feeling is that they will be the best team in Illinois and should be ranked. I hope that they will attend a national tournament (they went to PACE one year, if I recall) and show the country how good they really are.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Definitely agree on Rockford Auburn. I read to them 2-3 times at NSC and while Siva definitely was the best player, Lloyd and Zahed know their stuff and they're going to really pummel a lot of teams this year even without Siva.

[wexs883198215]

Hm....from the looks of it, we are either way overrated or totally forgotten

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Hm....from the looks of it, we are either way overrated or totally forgotten

Walter Johnson is mentioned in the Just Misses post. Walter Johnson has always been mentioned in the Just Misses post. Walter Johnson is our ally.

Sorry :(

[BroNi]

In your "Just Misses" list, you have Flushing (NY). I'm pretty sure I know most of the teams from NY, especially the southeast corner, and I have never heard of them as an active QB team. Sure you didn't mean this team: http://www.naqt.com/stats/school.jsp?org_id=58017 ?

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Yeah, that should be the Michigan team. I am a fount of mistakes.

[Inkana7]

Hm....from the looks of it, we are either way overrated or totally forgotten

Walter Johnson is mentioned in the Just Misses post. Walter Johnson has always been mentioned in the Just Misses post. Walter Johnson is our ally.

Sorry :(

Walter Johnson did very well without Daichi last year. Kuo-Kai is a good player.

[t-bar]

Hm....from the looks of it, we are either way overrated or totally forgotten

Walter Johnson is mentioned in the Just Misses post. Walter Johnson has always been mentioned in the Just Misses post. Walter Johnson is our ally.

Sorry :(

Walter Johnson did very well without Daichi last year. Kuo-Kai is a good player.

I don't disagree with you that Kuo-Kai is a good player, but do you know of a tournament WJ went to that Daichi didn't attend? I can't think of one off the top of my head.

[Inkana7]

Hm....from the looks of it, we are either way overrated or totally forgotten

Walter Johnson is mentioned in the Just Misses post. Walter Johnson has always been mentioned in the Just Misses post. Walter Johnson is our ally.

Sorry :(

Walter Johnson did very well without Daichi last year. Kuo-Kai is a good player.

I don't disagree with you that Kuo-Kai is a good player, but do you know of a tournament WJ went to that Daichi didn't attend? I can't think of one off the top of my head.

Thinking back on it, I think it might have been a tournament that Daichi played with Kuo-Kai's name, since WJ's other players at that tournament were Guy T., Henry G., and I think Naren T....

If that's the case, then I was mistaken, and sorry.