2009-10 Preseason Top 50

[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.

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.

Yeah, that was the TJIAT: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/quizbowl/2008tjiat/tjiat_full_teamdetail.html#t36.

[Horned Screamer]

Stop playing under pseudonyms you idiots!

[Inkana7]

My mistake!

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Stop playing under pseudonyms you idiots!

Unless you have to mask your participation, of course. Otherwise, though, it's just annoying.

[Alliance in the Alps]

Oh how I wish I went to PACE NSC 2009! I would show better stats than a measly 32-ish ppg in a format I am, to be honest, not so good at. Too much trash and computation for me.

Anyways, I think our team is ranked much higher than I ever thought we would be, and I kinda doubt we deserve it...but now I'm motivated to work harder.

Stop playing under pseudonyms you idiots!

And that was why I had cognitive dissonance in my mind for some time when looking through Hunter Prison Bowl stats.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Hey Fred are we going to an actual preseason poll as well here for everybody? The season kinda starts in like three days for some teams down south.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Hey Fred are we going to an actual preseason poll as well here for everybody? The season kinda starts in like three days for some teams down south.

We sure are. I'm going to announce it this weekend.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

11 through 20 here.

[Sulawesi Myzomela]

It's nice to see a couple KY teams (Dunbar and Manual) ranked highly. One thing I like seeing from this poll is the fact that a lot of teams from a lot of different areas of the country are fielding strong, nationally competitve teams. This season should be fun to watch.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

So... who's left?

Georgetown Day, Maggie Walker, State College, Wilmington Charter, Dorman, Hunter, Southside... LASA?... Mission SJ?... Hoover? (really?)...

That's my guess at what teams are left, and that's in no order (actually, it's in the order i thought of them, nevermind). Several of them will be ranked too high but i'm interested to see the order Fred chooses.

[gyre and gimble]

hey Fred, thanks for putting us at such a good ranking, we'll certainly have to work harder to meet expectations. I was actually thinking Torrey Pines, being the not extremely active team we are (which I'm hoping will change), had missed the radar.

I've got two things to note, and I'm not sure how it will change people's opinions.

1. Vivek was a senior last year. he's going to UCSD now, and I think that means we're losing a good third of our tossup points from last year.
2. We definitely do have a "third" and "fourth" player, although they're more like "second" and "third" since Vivek isn't #2. These two have been studying, and would certainly beat VIvek if they played two on one against him. On the other hand, Vivek scores 80% of his points on deep history/politics knowledge, and I don't know if we can cover that easily.

[Eccles cake]

Hoover? (really?)... .

If I'm not mistaken, Hoover returns all of the players on HSNCT A team which placed 17th place with 273.4 pp20th and 17.45ppb. I quake in my flip flops at the distinct possibility that Pensacola may have to play them in all their bowling shirt (my favorite team shirt ever) glory.

[Joe Romersa]

viewtopic.php?f=52&t=5799&start=300#p133115

Vivek's a senior this year, and Stephen is a junior. Also, I'm certain that Vivek wasn't there at SCIENCE!

oops, sorry, didnt see stephen already noted that >.>

[quantumfootball]

So... who's left?

Georgetown Day, Maggie Walker, State College, Wilmington Charter, Dorman, Hunter, Southside... LASA?... Mission SJ?... Hoover? (really?)...

That's my guess at what teams are left, and that's in no order (actually, it's in the order i thought of them, nevermind). Several of them will be ranked too high but i'm interested to see the order Fred chooses.

I'm wondering if either a)Fred believes that Brindlee Mountain will make a huge comeback, or b)he's going to put an A and B team from one of the first seven schools you mentioned in the top ten. I think that there may also be a really good team from Minnesota that hasn't been listed yet, but I may be mistaken on that.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Hoover? (really?)... .

If I'm not mistaken, Hoover returns all of the players on HSNCT A team which placed 17th place with 273.4 pp20th and 17.45ppb. I quake in my flip flops at the distinct possibility that Pensacola may have to play them in all their bowling shirt (my favorite team shirt ever) glory.

Good point then, Kay. They should be real good. If that's true then most likely the ten teams i picked have to be the ten left. I contend that at least one of them though should not be ranked that high.

[Vernon Lee Bad Marriage, Jr.]

So... who's left?

Georgetown Day, Maggie Walker, State College, Wilmington Charter, Dorman, Hunter, Southside... LASA?... Mission SJ?... Hoover? (really?)...

That's my guess at what teams are left, and that's in no order (actually, it's in the order i thought of them, nevermind). Several of them will be ranked too high but i'm interested to see the order Fred chooses.

I'm wondering if either a)Fred believes that Brindlee Mountain will make a huge comeback, or b)he's going to put an A and B team from one of the first seven schools you mentioned in the top ten. I think that there may also be a really good team from Minnesota that hasn't been listed yet, but I may be mistaken on that.

State College B and Maggie Walker B were strong last year, though I don't think Maggie Walker B was anywhere near top 10.

EDIT: Chattahoochee hasn't been mentioned, either.

[aestheteboy]

I predict that WJ will place above at least a half dozen teams at NSC (and HSNCT if they attend). KK tends to fail to buzz in, not from lack of knowledge, but out of deference.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

There are no B-teams ranked.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

hey Fred, thanks for putting us at such a good ranking, we'll certainly have to work harder to meet expectations. I was actually thinking Torrey Pines, being the not extremely active team we are (which I'm hoping will change), had missed the radar.

I've got two things to note, and I'm not sure how it will change people's opinions.

1. Vivek was a senior last year. he's going to UCSD now, and I think that means we're losing a good third of our tossup points from last year.
2. We definitely do have a "third" and "fourth" player, although they're more like "second" and "third" since Vivek isn't #2. These two have been studying, and would certainly beat VIvek if they played two on one against him. On the other hand, Vivek scores 80% of his points on deep history/politics knowledge, and I don't know if we can cover that easily.

And here I thought I could at least say that I didn't miss any notable player exits. Shoot.

Well, if those two have improved notably and can at least match Vivek's output, then you'll hold the ranking I gave you. If they don't, then I'd probably drop Torrey Pines about 10 spots or so. Which, really, isn't terribly bad.

[lagazzaladra]

Just to be clear, TJ's A team for this year is Stephen, Diana, Olivia, and myself.
We also have another great science player, Greyson Lewis, who wasn't able to attend either NSC or HSNCT this year, but he will certainly make an impact at any tournaments he attends.

[Vernon Lee Bad Marriage, Jr.]

I contend that at least one of them though should not be ranked that high.

Three guesses which one.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

I contend that at least one of them though should not be ranked that high.

Three guesses which one.

no dont

[Self-incompatibility in plants]

20. Raleigh Charter (NC) - Trivia time: name the highest returning scorer from PACE NSC.
The answer is Raleigh Charter’s Peter, who put up 109.29 ppg at NSC. They also get Gautam’s 17.14 ppg back. This should be enough to be a top team.

I believe they also return Alan Doyle from their A team at NSC. They are going to be a pretty formidable team next year, considering they are returning so many strong players.

[Joshua Rutsky]

Hoover? (really?)... .

If I'm not mistaken, Hoover returns all of the players on HSNCT A team which placed 17th place with 273.4 pp20th and 17.45ppb. I quake in my flip flops at the distinct possibility that Pensacola may have to play them in all their bowling shirt (my favorite team shirt ever) glory.

Kay is now my favorite person ever. Thanks for getting our back. And for the fashion bump.

We won't be returning all four of our starters, but we will be returning the top three for their senior year, and while we are going to feel the loss of our lit specialist, Patrick and Lowell are well on their way to closing that hole after a summer of work. It's hard to judge how good we are since we rarely play outside of the Southeast, but we think we can do some damage this year.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Hoover? (really?)... .

If I'm not mistaken, Hoover returns all of the players on HSNCT A team which placed 17th place with 273.4 pp20th and 17.45ppb. I quake in my flip flops at the distinct possibility that Pensacola may have to play them in all their bowling shirt (my favorite team shirt ever) glory.

Kay is now my favorite person ever. Thanks for getting our back. And for the fashion bump.

We won't be returning all four of our starters, but we will be returning the top three for their senior year, and while we are going to feel the loss of our lit specialist, Patrick and Lowell are well on their way to closing that hole after a summer of work. It's hard to judge how good we are since we rarely play outside of the Southeast, but we think we can do some damage this year.

I wasn't questioning your ability, it's just a team i know nothing about at all. Hopefully you can change that this year!

[wexs883198215]

Oh, haha I guess I missed that part of the list.

[mhawlik]

Hoover will be crazy good. Having played them at full strength in the 2009 HSNCT, and won and lost once, I am shocked to learn that they will be returning all of their players... I have no doubt that if they go to NSC and HSNCT, they will be competing for the top five.

[AlphaQuizBowler]

So... who's left?

Georgetown Day, Maggie Walker, State College, Wilmington Charter, Dorman, Hunter, Southside... LASA?... Mission SJ?... Hoover? (really?)...

That's my guess at what teams are left, and that's in no order (actually, it's in the order i thought of them, nevermind). Several of them will be ranked too high but i'm interested to see the order Fred chooses.

I'm wondering if either a)Fred believes that Brindlee Mountain will make a huge comeback, or b)he's going to put an A and B team from one of the first seven schools you mentioned in the top ten. I think that there may also be a really good team from Minnesota that hasn't been listed yet, but I may be mistaken on that.

State College B and Maggie Walker B were strong last year, though I don't think Maggie Walker B was anywhere near top 10.

EDIT: Chattahoochee hasn't been mentioned, either.

Chattahoochee's 33.

[Joshua Rutsky]

I wasn't questioning your ability, it's just a team i know nothing about at all. Hopefully you can change that this year!

No offense taken. You have to earn a reputation, and we're still working on it.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

I wasn't questioning your ability, it's just a team i know nothing about at all. Hopefully you can change that this year!

No offense taken. You have to earn a reputation, and we're still working on it.

Ha, i definitely know just what you mean.

So Fred, when's the top 10?

[Sulawesi Myzomela]

So Fred, when's the top 10?

I hope it's soon! I can't....wait....much...much lon.....ger!

In all seriousness though, I am pretty excited to see the top 10. These rankings have been excellent in breaking down teams and trying to place them according to the facts available, and overall have given a pretty good preview of what to expect this upcoming season. Fred's done a really good job.

[Self-incompatibility in plants]

So Fred, when's the top 10?

I hope it's soon! I can't....wait....much...much lon.....ger!

In all seriousness though, I am pretty excited to see the top 10. These rankings have been excellent in breaking down teams and trying to place them according to the facts available, and overall have given a pretty good preview of what to expect this upcoming season. Fred's done a really good job.

I agree with everything you just said, Nick.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

So Fred, when's the top 10?

Shouldn't be up any later than late Saturday.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

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.

I'll let their performance in the future dictate placement in the future. I'm also certain that there are teams from other states that the same things could be said about.

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

Last 10 teams can be found here.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Good rankings. Yay i was right picking the ten teams. There is no doubt that SC and Gov are the top two teams, and in my mind no doubt that Gov is number one, personally. But the competition for the rest of the top 10 is totally up for grabs.

EDIT: Cool, i was the only coach referenced in the whole list.

[Self-incompatibility in plants]

These were great, Fred, thanks for doing this. The only issue I really had with these rankings is that I think Raleigh Charter should be ranked higher, but that is a minor issue at best. I really enjoyed reading through these, thanks again!

[quizbowllee]

I'm wondering if either a)Fred believes that Brindlee Mountain will make a huge comeback....

LOL. While I was watching this top 50 unfold, I was wondering the same thing. When we weren't in the "close, but no cigar" batch or the 41-50 batch, I started to think that Fred was either seriously overrating us or seriously underrating us. As more and more teams were added, it become obvious that it was the latter.

If up to me, I doubt I would put us in the top 50 right now. Our showing at HSNCT was lackluster at best. Although, we did beat some decent teams (Cesar Rodney, Russell, etc.) at least once, we had a terrible ppg and ppb. But, we are returning all four starters.

Unfortunately for us, Hoover is going to dominate Alabama this year. I'm not sure that we can give them even a close game, much less defeat them. But, I'm hoping that we can at least re-establish ourselves as a top Alabama team and a team that has the potential to break into the top 25.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Our showing at HSNCT was lackluster at best. Although, we did beat some decent teams (Cesar Rodney, Russell, etc.) at least once, we had a terrible ppg and ppb. But, we are returning all four starters.

It certainly wasn't the greatest game that i saw that day, but you guys played pretty well when you beat us. We most certainly did not. I think we've both improved, and i could see you challenging to be one of the best teams in Alabama. You've got to think that you can beat Hoover or there's no way it could happen though. We're certainly going into this year with our most ambitious goal ever: beat Charter. If we can do that, you can pull off the Hoover upset.

[quizbowllee]

Our showing at HSNCT was lackluster at best. Although, we did beat some decent teams (Cesar Rodney, Russell, etc.) at least once, we had a terrible ppg and ppb. But, we are returning all four starters.

It certainly wasn't the greatest game that i saw that day, but you guys played pretty well when you beat us. We most certainly did not. I think we've both improved, and i could see you challenging to be one of the best teams in Alabama. You've got to think that you can beat Hoover or there's no way it could happen though. We're certainly going into this year with our most ambitious goal ever: beat Charter. If we can do that, you can pull off the Hoover upset.

Andrew, I'm trying this new "humility" thing out. We'll see how it goes. The rhetoric that I espouse in practice is very different .

[Sulawesi Myzomela]

We're certainly going into this year with our most ambitious goal ever: beat Charter.

You all certainly have the ability to do it IMO, and motivating players to beat a certain opponent actually does seem to have an effect. We went in to last year with goals of beating certain teams in our region, and we played our best games against those teams. If you all focus on Charter extensively, you might not only beat them at some point, but might surprise yourself in the process.

[Bad Boy Bill]

I thought our ranking was kind, I would have put us a little lower. We'll see. In the pre-Henry years we were a 11th-20th team, and we might be headed back to that for a while.

Good luck to Gov, State College, Hunter, and others listed from our area. I'm always proud to tell my new players that we play quizbowl in the toughest region of the country.

[RyuAqua]

Yeah, um, we're pretty highly over-ranked too, but thanks for the compliment, I guess?

Regardless, it should be interesting to see how this preliminary top 50 changes into an actual top 50 as the year goes on.

[CoolBuzzerHandLuke]

There is a story behind those stats for duPont Manual

Akshai was very sick at the HSNCT and Meghamsh was as well

Shray finished 1st at ACE for Lit (Campbellsville), Vishnu won a national championship for Academic WorldQuest and I won the top Freshman at NAQT (not to be boastful, just for the record. I have quite a while to go in Quiz Bowl, I'm sorry if i seem like an ***hole). We also have revamped our recruiting and practice system to be more focused on content areas and more productive during practices. The A Team will have Shray, Akshai, (probably) Meghamsh (who has learned quite a lot of Science and Music) and the 4th spot is up for grabs.

[Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County]

Academic WorldQuest

May I ask what this is?

[CoolBuzzerHandLuke]

Academic WorldQuest

May I ask what this is?

it is a strictly current events and social studies based academic compeition with a group of 4 team members, Henry Gorman was the Delaware champion, I believe

[The Atom Strikes!]

Academic WorldQuest

May I ask what this is?

it is a strictly current events and social studies based academic compeition with a group of 4 team members, Henry Gorman was the Delaware champion, I believe

Other high school quizbowl luminaries including Cody Simmons, Sam Peterson, Matt Jackson, and Charlie Rosenthal, at least, have attended national championships in the three years that Charter has done so. The Charter teams for the past few years have been almost entirely composed of quizbowl players.

[CoolBuzzerHandLuke]

Academic WorldQuest

May I ask what this is?

it is a strictly current events and social studies based academic compeition with a group of 4 team members, Henry Gorman was the Delaware champion, I believe

Other high school quizbowl luminaries including Cody Simmons, Sam Peterson, Matt Jackson, and Charlie Rosenthal, at least, have attended national championships in the three years that Charter has done so. The Charter teams for the past few years have been almost entirely composed of quizbowl players.

our national champion team has 1 out of 4

[Grams's Go-Go Boots]

There is a story behind those stats for duPont Manual

Akshai was very sick at the HSNCT and Meghamsh was as well

Shray finished 1st at ACE for Lit (Campbellsville), Vishnu won a national championship for Academic WorldQuest and I won the top Freshman at NAQT (not to be boastful, just for the record. I have quite a while to go in Quiz Bowl, I'm sorry if i seem like an ***hole). We also have revamped our recruiting and practice system to be more focused on content areas and more productive during practices. The A Team will have Shray, Akshai, (probably) Meghamsh (who has learned quite a lot of Science and Music) and the 4th spot is up for grabs.

No one said bad things about duPont Manual quiz bowl, but good things?

[CoolBuzzerHandLuke]

There is a story behind those stats for duPont Manual

Akshai was very sick at the HSNCT and Meghamsh was as well

Shray finished 1st at ACE for Lit (Campbellsville), Vishnu won a national championship for Academic WorldQuest and I won the top Freshman at NAQT (not to be boastful, just for the record. I have quite a while to go in Quiz Bowl, I'm sorry if i seem like an ***hole). We also have revamped our recruiting and practice system to be more focused on content areas and more productive during practices. The A Team will have Shray, Akshai, (probably) Meghamsh (who has learned quite a lot of Science and Music) and the 4th spot is up for grabs.

No one said bad things about duPont Manual quiz bowl, but good things?

i just meant that those stats were unrepresentative