Introduction to NAQT for College Bowl Teams

Due to the interest shown in NAQT by former customers of the College Bowl Company, we have decided to put up this page comparing and contrasting the two programs. We hope it proves helpful to schools trying to decide how to continue offering quiz bowl as a campus activity.

At the highest level, NAQT's offerings are very similar to those of College Bowl: we provide questions and guidance for on-campus tournaments, a regional qualification structure, and a national championship. It is possible to adopt NAQT as a "drop-in" replacement.

Campus Programs

NAQT offers a specific set of questions for campus intramural tournaments. This contains 15 rounds of 24 tossups and 24 bonuses each for a total of $225 (plus shipping). These questions are intended for casual players, student-faculty matches, or similar events. Unlike with College Bowl, it is not necessary to purchase intramural questions to compete interscholastically. If your on-campus events require more questions, we can make special arrangements to provide additional packets.

Interscholastic Competition

NAQT's Sectional Championship Tournaments (our version of Regionals) occur in February. In 2010 they will take place on Saturday, February 6, 2010. Just like at the RCTs, teams will drive to a central location and play against each other. NAQT's SCTs offer two levels of competition: Division I and Division II. Division I is for graduate students and experienced undergraduates, while Division II is for newer players (regardless of school size or athletic classification). Younger players therefore have a chance to compete without facing the area's most formidable teams. In addition, NAQT allows multiple teams from the same school to attend Sectionals, so you no longer face a choice between sending the winner of your IM tournament and your All-Stars (unless those groups overlap). There is a registration fee for Sectionals of $120/team (with discounts for bringing buzzers, clocks, or moderators, and a larger discount for new teams).

NAQT's Intercollegiate Championship Tournament (ICT) will take place April 9-10, 2010. It will feature the top 32 Division I teams and top 32 Division II teams. Since the field is larger, there is a better chance of an individual school qualifying to attend.

Community Colleges

NAQT has a separate championship series for community colleges and other two-year schools. Community College Sectional Championship Tournaments (CC SCTs) will be held on January 22-23, 2010 across the country. The top teams at those events will qualify for the Community College Championship Tournament (CCCT), which will take place February 26-27, 2010.

Other Interscholastic Tournaments

NAQT also provides questions for smaller-scale interscholastic tournaments and would be happy to help you find such tournaments to attend or to help you host one for your local opponents. We have a variety of question levels available and the format/invitation list for the event is entirely up to you.

Rules Differences

NAQT's rules for competition are very similar to those of College Bowl: Individuals buzz in to answer tossup questions, thereby earning their team 10 points and a chance at a bonus. Bonuses have multiple parts, are worth a total of 30 points, and teams may collaborate on them. Interrupting a tossup and answering incorrectly results in a 5-point penalty, and the other team gets to hear the rest of the question. The main difference is that answering a tossup early ("powering it"), is rewarded with an extra 5 points.

Games consist of two ten-minute (rather than eight-minute) halves. There are slightly different rules governing how the game ends: If a tossup is started, it will be finished (even if the clock expires), and if a tossup is answered, the (entire) bonus will be heard (even if the clock expired during the tossup).

As far as what constitutes a correct (or promptable) answer, our philosophy is essentially identical to that of College Bowl.

New College Package

If you're sold on NAQT and are looking to get started, you probably qualify for our deeply discounted New College Package that includes the complete set of intramural questions as well as practice sets and study guides for your interscholastic team for $149 (yes, it's cheaper than the intramural questions alone).

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