Approved SCT Formats

NAQT provides questions for 16 rounds of play at SCT tournaments. The tournament format at SCT must meet these criteria:

Division I and Division II teams must have separate divisions whenever four or more teams are entered in each division.
Every team must be guaranteed the opportunity to play a minimum of seven games.
NAQT’s elimination policy and tiebreaker policy apply. These requirements may be overlooked only if a host is using all 16 packets provided, and therefore no additional NAQT questions are available for use in tiebreaker play.

Listed below are a number of pre-approved SCT formats for any number of teams in a division from 4 to 24. For each format the number of rounds scheduled is exclusive of any tiebreaker games needed, either at the end to determine titles or in the middle to determine field splits based on prior play. Other formats may be equally acceptable, but hosts who wish to use a different format for their tournament than one shown here should email sct@naqt.com about their plans in advance.

The following abbreviations are used:

RR: round robin (every team plays every other team)
RR×2: double round robin (every team plays every other team twice)
RR×3: triple round robin (every team plays every other team three times)
½RR: after one or more round robin, field splits into top and bottom halves for round robins within each half
⅓RR: after one or more round robin, field splits into thirds for round robins within each third
SFRR: split field round robins — field is split into groups for initial round-robin play within each group; the size of each group is indicated in parentheses
without repeats: matches between teams that already played each other should not be played

*Uneven split gives some teams one more game than others
**The bottom bracket teams play two fewer games than the top bracket teams
Teams	Format	Games	Rounds	Note
4	RR×3	9	9
5	RR×2, then ½RR	10	13
6	RR×2	10	10
7	RR×2	12	14
8	RR, then ½RR	10	10
9	RR, then ½RR	11–12*	14
10	RR	9	9
11	RR	10	11
12	RR	11	11
13	RR	12	13
14	RR	13	13
15	SFRR (8/7), then ½RR without repeats	10–11*	11	Top 4 from each SFRR plays top 4 from other. Likewise for bottom ¾.
16	SFRR (8/8), then ½RR without repeats	11	11	Top 4 from each SFRR plays top 4 from other. Likewise for bottom 4.
17	SFRR (9/8), then ½RR without repeats	11–13*	14	Top 5 from each SFRR plays top 5 from other. Likewise for bottom ¾.
18	SFRR (6/6/6), then ⅓RR without repeats	9	9	Top 2 from each SFRR plays top 2 from others. Likewise for middle 2 and bottom 2.
19	SFRR (10/9), then ½RR without repeats	13–14*	14	Top 5 from each SFRR plays top 5 from other. Likewise for bottom 4/5.
20	SFRR (10/10), then ½RR without repeats	14	14	Top 5 from each SFRR plays top 5 from other. Likewise for bottom 5.
21	SFRR (7/7/7), then ⅓RR without repeats	10–12**	14	Top 3 from each SFRR plays top 3 from others. Likewise for middle 2 and bottom 2.
22	SFRR (8/7/7), then ⅓RR without repeats	10–13*	14	Top 3 from each SFRR plays top 3 from others. Likewise for middle 2 and bottom ⅔.
23	SFRR (8/8/7), then ⅓RR without repeats	10–13*	14	Top 3 from each SFRR plays top 3 from others. Likewise for middle 2 and bottom ⅔.
24	SFRR (6/6/6/6), then ⅓RR without repeats	11	11

Schedule Templates

NAQT has produced an Excel file of templates for many of these suggested formats, into which team names and room names can easily be inserted to produce ready-to-print schedules.

Download Excel File

Tournament Schedule

NAQT maintains a schedule of college events, including novice tournaments, sectional championships, and the Intercollegiate Championship Tournament.

View Schedule