The Quizbowl Resource Center

Mechanical Beasts wrote:

SmallerMegalomaniacalPandaOnAbsinthe wrote:

Mike Bentley wrote:
We are not planning on having distinct difficulties between the prelims and playoffs this year.

So 2011 NSC actually had distinct difficulties between the two? Superplayoffs packets seemed considerably harder than the rest of the tournament, but it'd be good to have official word about this.

The intent last year, and we were explicit about this, was to have somewhat harder playoffs/superplayoffs than prelims. The superplayoffs were not consciously designed to be harder than the playoffs.

Yeah, last year the playoffs and superplayoffs should have been of a uniformly harder difficult than the prelims. This year, all rounds (except the All-Star game) will be of the same difficulty (or at least we won't consciously be targeting a different difficulty for these rounds).

More teams seem to have dropped out: Is the format changing as a result?

MorganV wrote:More teams seem to have dropped out: Is the format changing as a result?

Possibly. We are currently figuring out if there are enough standby teams to still run a 60 team tournament. We will post an update soon.

Mike Bentley wrote:

MorganV wrote:More teams seem to have dropped out: Is the format changing as a result?

Possibly. We are currently figuring out if there are enough standby teams to still run a 60 team tournament. We will post an update soon.

Assuming no more teams drop and we don't get any additional standby teams, we will run a 59 team tournament with the same schedule as previously posted, except for the following changes:

1. One more bracket will have 7 teams rather than 8 teams.
2. The bottom playoff tier will be using a different format, involving two-bracket play followed by a single elimination "consolation championship." This will minimize byes in the bottom bracket as much as possible and leave us flexible for any further last-minute changes in field size.

This has probably been answered somewhere but I have been unable to find that answer on these forums or the PACE NSC website thus far: what building(s) is/are being used for this tournament (ie. where do I show up at 7:30 on Saturday)?

SunWukong wrote:This has probably been answered somewhere but I have been unable to find that answer on these forums or the PACE NSC website thus far: what building(s) is/are being used for this tournament (ie. where do I show up at 7:30 on Saturday)?

Everyone should've gotten an email with this information at their listed contact address from registration, but I'll post it here and copy it over to our website to stave off any further confusion. Registration is from 7 AM - 8:15 AM in the Lab Sciences building. The meeting will start at 8:15, so please try to run earlier than that. See everyone Saturday morning!

What's the deal with parking on campus? Are there any lots that we cannot park in or any preferred lots?

mlaird wrote:What's the deal with parking on campus? Are there any lots that we cannot park in or any preferred lots?

Any yellow permit space (yellow permits are not enforced on weekends). Best location is Millbrook Garage (86 on the main campus map/23 and 25 on the parking map).

Is anyone doing a liveblog of the tournament this year?

Alliance in the Alps wrote:Is anyone doing a liveblog of the tournament this year?

Harry White is currently scheduled to do this. He'll post a link here when he gets started.

The Laughing Cavalier wrote:

Alliance in the Alps wrote:Is anyone doing a liveblog of the tournament this year?

Harry White is currently scheduled to do this. He'll post a link here when he gets started.

This is news to me!

Communi-Bear Silo State wrote:

The Laughing Cavalier wrote:

Alliance in the Alps wrote:Is anyone doing a liveblog of the tournament this year?

Harry White is currently scheduled to do this. He'll post a link here when he gets started.

This is news to me!

Hmm, Matt remembers telling you that. In any case, have fun blogging!

Check our website for liveblog updates through the day. Also look for updates on Twitter using the hashtag #PACENSC.

Are the initial pools posted anywhere?

And the Moon Be Still As Bright
Albuquerque
Dorman A
New Trier
Northmont
Seven Lakes
Sidney
South Fork
Stevenson B

The Naming of Names
Cistercian
Clayton
Cumberland
DCC A
Hunter B
Maggie Walker
Oakville

The Million Year PIcnic
Bellarmine
Hickman
Dunbar A
Warren G Harding
Hillsdale
St. John's
Ladue B
Loyola B

There Will Come Soft Rains
Auburn A
Barstow A
Latin School
Montgomery Blair
Parkway West
St. Anselm's
Stevenson A

Way in the Middle of the Air
duPont Manual
Hunter C
IMSA A
Loyola A
Rock Bridge C
St. Joseph
St. Louis U

The Musicians
Carbondale A
Dunbar B
Grayson County
Hunter A
Ladue C
Olmsted Falls
Rock Bridge A

Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed
Auburn B
Barstow B
Centennial
Frenchtown
Georgetown Day
Oldham County
Torrey Pines
Walt Whitman

The Green Morning
Carbondale B
DCC B
IMSA B
Kealing
Ladue A
Rock Bridge B
St. Pius X
Thomas Jefferson

Edited by Jon Pinyan. Brackets above are correct.

We probably won't have the SQBS reports up until all the prelims and tiebreakers are over, but we are about to starting tweeting individual game results from rounds 1-3 at #pacensc.

I've updated Fred's post to reflect the official brackets. In my building, there were 7 unbeaten teams after Round 4:
Bellarmine, St. Johns
Cistercian, DCC
Auburn, Stevenson
Loyola

In the other building
Carbondale, Hunter
Dorman, New Trier
Centennial
Ladue, TJ

Matt Weiner wrote:We probably won't have the SQBS reports up until all the prelims and tiebreakers are over, but we are about to starting tweeting individual game results from rounds 1-3 at #pacensc.

Specifically the @PACENSC account will be tweeting and including the #pacensc hashtag, as will other accounts of people at the tournament.

Frater Taciturnus wrote:

Matt Weiner wrote:We probably won't have the SQBS reports up until all the prelims and tiebreakers are over, but we are about to starting tweeting individual game results from rounds 1-3 at #pacensc.

Specifically the @PACENSC account will be tweeting and including the #pacensc hashtag, as will other accounts of people at the tournament.

I've got all the Round 1-3 results up now; I'll keep going with another large batch when feasible.

We have one three-way tie that is currently being played off for playoff bracketing. Everything else is set, so as soon as this is done we will post playoff seeds online and distribute them on paper to all teams, then begin round 8.

Playoff seeds are being issued RIGHT NOW and teams have until 3:55 to get present in their Round 8 rooms.

We got the time from "completion of last tiebreaker" to "issue of seeds" down to 20 minutes, which is moving in the right direction, but I can see that the total delay for teams not involved in tiebreakers added up to more time. Working on ways to continue shrinking the delay in the future.

Tier I, Martin: Bellarmine, Carbondale A, Centennial, Cistercian, Loyola A, Seven Lakes, St. Anselm's, Thomas Jefferson
Tier I, Rothrock: Auburn, DCC A, Dorman, Dunbar A, Hunter A, IMSA A, Ladue A, Walt Whitman

Tier II, Frisch: Dupont Manual, Hunter B, IMSA B, Mont Blair, Northmont, Rock Bridge A, St. John's, Torrey Pines
Tier II, Medwick: Detroit Catholic B, Georgetown Day, Maggie Walker, New Trier, Olmsted Falls, St. Joseph, Stevenson, Warren G. Harding

Tier III, Collins: Clayton A, Grayson County, Hillsdale, Hunter C, Kealing, Oldham County, Parkway West, Sidney
Tier III, Davis: Cumberland, Dunbar B, Ladue B, Latin, Rock Bridge B, Rockford Auburn B, SLU High, Stevenson B

Tier IV: Durocher: Albuquerque, Barstow B, Loyola B, Oaklville, Rock Bridge C, St Pius X
Tier IV, Orsatti: Barstow A, Carbondale B, Frenchtown, Hickman, Ladue C, South Fork

Full Prelim Stats

Full Playoff Brackets

I've noted a couple errors in the prelim stats. If anyone comes across anything else that needs to be corrected, please email it to me at [email protected]. I'll go through and make corrections after the completion of the tournament tomorrow.

As of the end of Saturday, here are the standings in the top tier:

Martin division: Bellarmine 5-0/536, Carbondale 4-1/368, Centennial 3-2/448, Seven Lakes 2-3/390, St. Anselm's 2-3/376, Cistercian 2-3/314, Loyola 1-4/374, TJ 1-4/346
Rothrock division: Hunter 5-0/520, IMSA 4-1/478, Auburn 3-2/438, Dorman 3-2/430, DCC 3-2/410, Ladue 2-3/372, Dunbar 0-5/316, Whitman 0-5/256

Top four of each will cross over for four more rounds. Bellarmine's been pushed to the brink twice, but survived both times. Head-to-head grids for both top-tier brackets are attached.

The Motley Eye wrote:Stats through 12

IMSA probably heard 16 bonuses, not 6, in their match against Auburn. That 55 PPB seems a bit high.

We heard 14 tossups against Auburn.

Charles Martel wrote:We heard 14 tossups against Auburn.

Oops, I read 7 10s somehow, rather than 5.

And Auburn has 13 bonuses heard during that match instead of 6....thus resulting in their deflated PPB.

I believe these are the two remaining games for each team in this tier of the playoffs.

Martin division
Bellarmine 5-0/536 - St. Anselm's, Cistercian
Carbondale 4-1/368 - Centennial, Seven Lakes
Centennial 3-2/448 - Carbondale, Loyola
Seven Lakes 2-3/390 - Carbondale, St. Anselm's
St. Anselm's 2-3/376 - Bellarmine, Seven Lakes
Cistercian 2-3/314 - Bellarmine, Thomas Jefferson
Loyola 1-4/374 - Centennial, Thomas Jefferson
TJ 1-4/346 - Cistercian, Loyola

Rothrock division
Hunter 5-0/520 - Dorman, Walt Whitman
IMSA 4-1/478 - DCC, Ladue
Auburn 3-2/438 - Ladue, Dunbar
Dorman 3-2/430 - Hunter, DCC
DCC 3-2/410 - IMSA, Dorman
Ladue 2-3/372 - IMSA, Auburn
Dunbar 0-5/316 - Auburn, Whitman
Whitman 0-5/256 - Hunter, Dunbar

Playoffs have concluded.

Rothrock results (Hunter, IMSA, Auburn, and Dorman make superplayoffs)

1. Hunter A 7-0
2. IMSA A 6-1
3. Auburn A 5-2
4. Dorman 4-3
5. DCC A 3-4
6. Ladue A 2-5
7. Whitman 1-6
8. Dunbar A 0-7

Martin results (Bellarmine, Centennial, Carbondale, and winner of three-way tiebreaker make superplayoffs)

1. Bellarmine 7-0
2. Centennial 4-3
3. Carbondale 4-3
4T. Seven Lakes 3-4
4T. Thomas Jefferson 3-4
4T. St. Anselm's 3-4
7T. Cistercian 2-5
7T. Loyola 2-5

The seventh-place tie is also being played off right now.

TJ and Loyola won their respective tiebreakers. Here is the schedule for superplayoffs, starting now:

Also going on right now:

Seven Lakes v. Detroit Catholic Central A for 9th/10th place
St. Anselm's v. Ladue A for 11th/12th place
Loyola v. Whitman for 13th/14th place
Cistercian v. Dunbar A for 15th/16th place

Full playoff stats are up.

Superplayoffs as they happen: http://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/99 ... rplayoffs/

After superplayoffs:
Bellarmine and Hunter are 6-1 and will play a one-game final.
Centennial is 5-2 for 3rd. IMSA is 4-3 for 4th.
TJ, Dorman, and Carbondale are 2-5 and will play tiebreakers for 5th. TJ has a bye, the other two will play (loser is 7th), and the winner plays TJ for 5th-6th.
Auburn is 1-6 for 8th.

Final starts in about 10 minutes.

Congratulations to Hunter!

Hunter A defeated Bellarmine 420-370 in a one-game final.

Carbondale defeated Dorman and then TJ to claim 5th place. Full superplayoff stats are posted and reflect the actual order of finish in the top 16.

Here are head-to-head charts for the top playoff tier and superplayoffs. Also, the scoresheet for the final.

Congrats to all teams, especially Hunter and Bellarmine who played one of the most exciting NSC finals ever. Look for a more robust tournament summary soon.

I'll get the ball rolling. This was my first time at PACE NSC. Prior to this I think I've done close to 40 tournaments in the WUSTL buildings, and this was one of the top 3. The people I worked with could not have been more effective and professional. They were highly efficient, proactive, and an absolute joy to work with. The list of their names is simply too long to list here but first and foremost Matt Weiner did a wonderful job with this event. Sarah Angelo, Steve Yang, Jon Pinyan, Jeff Hill and so many others did a ton of work to make this event run well and it showed. I know there were a couple hiccups, but for the degree of difficulty of an event of this size and magnitude it was tops. I did not attend and declined to read the reviews of last year, but my general impression from players and coaches is that this event has seen a complete 180 in the last year.

I would also like to congratulate Hunter for their thrilling two wins in a row over Bellarmine. The quality of play and high degree of sportsmanship was incredible and every time I see what high school students are doing I'm inspired, exhilirated, and extremely grateful to see it. I'm also jealous. But that's more my issue.

Let's have another next year!

Jeremy Gibbs Paradox wrote:I did not attend and declined to read the reviews of last year, but my general impression from players and coaches is that this event has seen a complete 180 in the last year.

I'd like to absolutely affirm this. This tournament was excellently run. No serious issues aside from a bit of a delay in prelims resulting in a shorter lunch, but given last year's delays that was nothing. Playoffs and everything else ran really smoothly, all the moderators were good. I can't really say I have any complaints, other than maybe my displeasure that the tournament organizers were dominating my team at buffalo wild wings trivia...

DoubleAW wrote:

Jeremy Gibbs Paradox wrote:I did not attend and declined to read the reviews of last year, but my general impression from players and coaches is that this event has seen a complete 180 in the last year.

I can't really say I have any complaints, other than maybe my displeasure that the tournament organizers were dominating my team at buffalo wild wings trivia...

I did wonder where 8 people randomly came from all at once, but never thought a team would go out there. Would love to do it again sometime though.

Just as a note, I'm not sure which member of the staff took it at the end of the tournament, but on Saturday, someone left a purse in Siegle. Brief investigation implied it was almost certainly someone affiliated with Cumberland. I tried to call Cumberland's coach a few times on Sunday, but they were already long gone. Sorry that I forgot to bring it up when you picked up your buzzers.

I too would like to thank PACE for a well-run tournament. I hope that the teams that decided to skip this tournament due to what happened last year will see how much it has improved since then and be willing to come back in 2013.

If the field to this tournament didn't fill up so quickly, then open up again so late (after most schools could get approval for travel from their districts, etc.), we would have come to it instead of HSNCT. I hope we can be there again some year in the future.

jonpin wrote:Just as a note, I'm not sure which member of the staff took it at the end of the tournament, but on Saturday, someone left a purse in Siegle. Brief investigation implied it was almost certainly someone affiliated with Cumberland. I tried to call Cumberland's coach a few times on Sunday, but they were already long gone. Sorry that I forgot to bring it up when you picked up your buzzers.

This purse and a cell phone that was left in the auditorium at the end of the day are en route to Richmond with us. They can be shipped if someone sends me an address. I'll also send an email out about this to team contacts tomorrow when I can get online from a computer and not just my phone. The cell phone found in Lab Sci was with a pocket Constitution, which we also have with us.

The Laughing Cavalier wrote:

jonpin wrote:Just as a note, I'm not sure which member of the staff took it at the end of the tournament, but on Saturday, someone left a purse in Siegle. Brief investigation implied it was almost certainly someone affiliated with Cumberland. I tried to call Cumberland's coach a few times on Sunday, but they were already long gone. Sorry that I forgot to bring it up when you picked up your buzzers.

This purse and a cell phone that was left in the auditorium at the end of the day are en route to Richmond with us. They can be shipped if someone sends me an address. I'll also send an email out about this to team contacts tomorrow when I can get online from a computer and not just my phone. The cell phone found in Lab Sci was with a pocket Constitution, which we also have with us.

The phone+constitution most certainly belong to IMSA. We realized they were gone at dinner. I will send you the address shortly. Thanks!

Just wanted to say thanks to PACE for a well-run tournament. We had a wonderful time in St Louis and it sounds like a lot of other teams did too. I think it's safe to say that there wasn't a team in the superplayoffs that we weren't afraid of, and after HSNCT we were relieved that DCC A got knocked off that table (maybe they felt that way about us two weeks ago?). We have so much respect and admiration for our friends at Bellarmine, and that was truly an exhilarating final match. Thanks to all - this weekend was a real reminder of how much fun good quizbowl can be, and how close our community is.