2024 Community College Championship Tournament Logistics Information
The 2024 Community College Championship Tournament (CCCT) was held at in Rosemont, Illinois (near Chicago), on February 23–24, 2024.
Contents
Tournament Date
February 23–24, 2024 (Friday–Saturday).
Location
The tournament will be held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago in Rosemont, Illinois (which is adjacent to Chicago and to O’Hare International Airport). A floor plan (PDF) is available.
There are two Hyatt hotels in Rosemont; the one hosting the tournament is the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago.
The hotel is twelve stories tall, and games may be held on high floors. Many of the elevators provide a view into the tall atrium.
Schedule
This schedule is final.
All times are listed in Central time.
Friday Evening
| Time | Event | Location | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. | Staff check-in | Midway | Lobby Level |
| 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. | Team check-in | Conference Center foyer | Lobby Level |
| 6:00 – 6:30 p.m. | Team meeting | O'Hare Ballroom | Lobby Level |
| 6:00 – 6:30 p.m. | Staff meeting | Midway | Lobby Level |
| 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. | Preliminary rounds (1–5) | Throughout the hotel | |
| 9:40 – 10:00 p.m. | Record confirmation meeting | O'Hare Ballroom | Lobby Level |
Saturday
| Time | Event | Location | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:45 – 9:15 a.m. | Tiebreaker (if necessary; round 6) | Throughout the hotel | |
| 9:20 – 9:30 a.m. | Pick up schedules | Conference Center foyer | Lobby Level |
| 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. | Playoff rounds 7–10 | Throughout the hotel | |
| 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch | On your own | |
| 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. | Playoff rounds 11–12 | Throughout the hotel | |
| 2:00 – 3:45 p.m. | Tiebreakers and finals (rounds 13–15) | O'Hare Ballroom | Lobby Level |
| After finals | Awards | O'Hare Ballroom | Lobby Level |
| After awards, about 4:15 p.m. | ACRONYM opening meeting | O'Hare Ballroom | Lobby Level |
| After opening meeting, about 4:30 p.m. | ACRONYM | Throughout the hotel | |
Frequently Asked Questions
ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ has prepared answers to frequently asked questions about its national championships.
Rules and Eligibility
Gameplay will follow the Official ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ Rules. Player eligibility is governed by the Community College Eligibility Rules.
Qualification
Schools qualified to send teams to the CCCT through their performances at Community College Sectional Championship Tournaments (CC SCTs) held in January.
ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ has computed D-Values to compare the performance of teams across CC SCTs. After inviting champions of CC SCTs with at least four teams, invitations are issued strictly in order of decreasing D-Values.
The results of this year’s CC SCTs are now available (at the bottom, below the four-year SCTs). So are the D-Values used to determine the invitations and waitlist order.
Field
These teams attended the tournament.
Format
The tournament will use the same format as in 2023:
Teams will be initially divided into four pools of six teams, each of which will play a round robin (Rounds 1–5) on Friday night. These teams will be repooled into three new groups of eight (the top two advance to the top pool, numbers three and four advance to the second pool, and so forth) for a second round robin (Rounds 7–12) on Saturday morning and afternoon. Advancement will be determined by overall record with any tiebreaker games required by ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s tiebreaker policy being played during Round 6 (on Saturday morning).
Teams who have a Round 6 tiebreaker must be back, ready to play, at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday. Those without a tiebreaker game will have their first game at 9:30 a.m.
In the playoffs, teams will play the six teams who are in the same playoff pool and whom they haven’t yet faced (Rounds 7–12). At the conclusion of Round 12, the top two teams will advance to the finals. This will be determined based on playoff record, including the games “carried over” from the preliminary rounds (i.e., games between teams who were in both the same preliminary pool and the same playoff pool). Ties for the top two spots will be broken during Round 13, if necessary. Tiebreaker games do not count in final records.
If two teams are tied for first place in the top playoff pool, they will play a one-game final. If three teams are tied for first place in the top playoff pool, the team with the third-highest points per tossup heard (PPTUH) (in the pool, including the carried-over game) will play one game against the team with the second-highest PPTUH; the loser of that game will finish in third place, while the winner of that game will play one game against the team with the highest PPTUH for the championship. If four (or more) teams are tied for first place in the top playoff pool, the “n teams playing for n spots fully determined” standard tiebreaker protocols will be utilized with full games played for all matches.
If there are distinct first- and second-place teams in the top playoff pool, they will play an advantaged final. That is, the second-place team will need to win two games in a row to claim the championship, but the first-place team will only need to win one game.
If one team is in first place in the top playoff pool and there is a tie for second place, the second-place tie will be resolved using standard tiebreaker protocols, the winner of which will play an advantaged final against the first-place team. A third- (or fourth-, etc.) place game will also be played if there were teams tied for second place whose final order among themselves was implicitly determined by PPTUH in tiebreaker seeding rather than a tiebreaker game.
If necessary, tiebreaker games will also be played, using the standard tiebreaker protocols, to decide additional places that earn trophies.
Teams not involved in finals and post-playoff tiebreaker games will be ranked by playoff pool and record in the playoffs (including one carried-over game). Ties in record will be left unbroken.
Situations not covered above will be addressed at the discretion of ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ. ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ may revise this format slightly prior to the tournament.
Fees and Payment
Registration has closed.
The registration fee is $490 per team.
The registration fee only covers participation in the tournament. It does not cover transportation, lodging, food or other expenses.
Buzzer Discounts
Teams who bring a working buzzer system to the tournament will be eligible for a $30 discount on the registration fee if it meets ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s national-championship standards. There may be some surprises in that policy! Please read it in advance to make sure your system qualifies.
Unless otherwise approved by ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ, no team may receive more than four buzzer-system discounts.
Timing
ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ will only award the discount for buzzer systems that it may keep until the completion of the awards ceremony; if you cannot commit to those times, do not register to bring a buzzer system!
Cancellation
Teams who cancel their registration between February 10 and February 16 (inclusive) will owe a cancellation fee of $245 (half of the registration fee). Teams who cancel their registration on or after February 17, or who fail to show up to the tournament, will owe a cancellation fee of $490 (the full amount of the registration fee). These deadlines notwithstanding, teams will always have a seven-day grace period after registering during which they can cancel without incurring a fee.
Failure to submit participation agreements on time may be treated as a cancellation, including incurring a cancellation fee, at ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s discretion.
Cancellation due to COVID-19
ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ expects all prospective participants to follow the recommendations of the CDC (and any other applicable health agencies) with regard to isolation, quarantine, not traveling, etc., based on testing positive for COVID-19, having symptoms thereof, or having been exposed to people who are symptomatic or who have tested positive, etc.—even if that means they are unable to participate in the tournament.
ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ will waive cancellation fees for any team on which any player is unable to participate due to following such recommendations, though ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ strongly prefers affected teams to play shorthanded or find replacement players if at all possible. For a cancellation fee waiver, notice should be given to ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ as early as possible, supporting documentation or information may be required, and the offer is only available to teams who are in full compliance with other requirements pertaining to payment, submission of participation agreements, etc.
Payment
For teams registered by a verified official school coach, payment is generally due by the start of the tournament and will be accepted at check-in, though we strongly prefer earlier payment. ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ reserves the right to require earlier payment in specific cases.
For teams not registered by a verified official school coach, payment—or confirmation of payment plans from such a coach or from a school administrator—is required within one week of registration.
To request an invoice, once you have entered all the information that can affect costs (but not necessarily entered your roster or other information that doesn’t affect cost), at the bottom of your registration page, click “View Cost.” Verify that the listed information is correct, and if so, follow the instructions to request an invoice so that we have the proper billing information. You will also be offered the opportunity to pay by credit card.
ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ accepts checks, but those paying by check must be mindful of the payment timing requirement mentioned above. Checks should be made payable to “ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ” and should be sent to
ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ, LLC
11521 W 69th St
Shawnee, KS 66203–3749
Please send questions about billing to [email protected].
Questions
This tournament will use the 2024 ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ Division II Sectional Championship Tournament set. This is the same set that will be used for the Division II competitions at the four-year Sectional Championship Tournaments (SCTs), so community college teams who choose to participate in that tournament will not be allowed to compete in the CCCT (even with different players).
Participation Agreements
Players and coaches must sign a participation agreement covering expectations, media coverage, etc. All agreements must be submitted to [email protected] by Friday, February 9, 2024.
The signature(s) on the participation agreement must be handwritten, not typed. The agreement may be submitted by sending a scan or photo to [email protected]. Only the last page is required unless the participant is indicating a preference not to be recorded (in which case the page with the checkbox to indicate that preference must be included).
Checking In
The check-in period will be in the evening on Friday, February 23. During this period ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ will distribute information folders, answer questions, process payments, verify rosters, and take care of other administrative matters.
To check in, each team should send only one coach to the check-in area. That person will be given the team’s information folder. Others should not enter the check-in area.
Awards
The top six teams will receive trophies, and the members of those teams will receive medals (up to six per team).
The top twelve individual scorers (determined by points per tossup heard in the preliminary rounds) will receive All-Star medals. Players must have played at least 70 tossups to be eligible for All-Star awards.
Qualifying for the Intercollegiate Championship Tournament
The top four teams from this tournament will qualify for the Division II collegiate championship at the 2024 Intercollegiate Championship Tournament (ICT) on April 6, 2024 in Rosemont, IL.
These are guaranteed Tier-4 invitations under ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s qualification system for the ICT.
CCCT teams that don’t receive an automatic invitation to the ICT will have their D-Values computed as if the CCCT were a (four-year) Sectional Championship Tournament, and they will be inserted into the waitlist for Tier-7 invitations. It is thus possible for more than four CCCT teams to earn invitations to the ICT. If one of the automatically invited CCCT teams declines its ICT invitation, the spot will go to the next team in the overall (SCT-plus-CCCT) invitation order, not necessarily the next team from the CCCT.
Popular Culture Side Event (ACRONYM)
will host a mirror of its ACRONYM popular culture tournament as a “side event” on Saturday evening. This event is not officially part of the championship and is entirely optional.
The mirror is open to the general public (including current players at any level). In particular, all people at the national championship (including players, coaches, and staff) are encouraged to play. People affiliated with different schools may play together.
There is a separate registration fee ($100 per team) for the ACRONYM mirror.
There will be short breaks in the ACRONYM schedule, but teams planning to compete in it should plan ahead to bring dinner or order delivery to eat between the end of the CCCT and the opening meeting of ACRONYM. This will be tight, but there will not be time to leave the tournament site between the end of the CCCT and the end of ACRONYM.
Please direct questions about ACRONYM to Danny Vopava ([email protected]).
Registration for ACRONYM is separate from registration from the CCCT. Unless you are registering a team that consists of players who are all students at the same school and will play under that school’s name, you may need to create a new organization, affiliate yourself with it as a “Club President,” and then register under its name.
Transportation
Flights
Participants are strongly encouraged to fly into (ORD), which is extremely close to the hotel. They may also fly into (MDW), but it is much less convenient.
Ground Transportation
The hotel runs a free shuttle every 15 or 30 minutes (depending on time of day) to transport people from O’Hare to the hotel (and vice versa). As of 2024, the shuttle pickup location has changed; it is now outside of Door 2A on the Arrivals Level (lowest level) of Terminal 2. There is also a pickup location by Door 5E in Terminal 5, but that is much less convenient for most domestic arrivals.
There is no such shuttle for Midway. A taxi between Midway and the hotel will cost $35 or more, or you can take the ’s Orange and Blue Lines for $3 per person (getting on at the Midway Orange Line station, transferring to the Blue Line downtown, and getting off at the Rosemont Blue Line station, which is about one block from the hotel).
Driving Directions
The hotel’s address is 9300 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Rosemont, Illinois.
Parking
Parking standard vehicles at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare costs $19/day plus tax, including in-and-out privileges. Participants traveling to the tournament in buses should contact the hotel in advance to discuss parking options.
To receive the discounted parking rate, participants staying at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare should mention when checking into their guest rooms (not the tournament) that they have parked at the hotel and validate their ticket. Participants not staying at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare should use the manual validator box outside the control room to validate their parking ticket. (Do not use the manual validator box if you are staying overnight at the hotel.)
Hotel
The official hotel for the tournament is the . (There are two Hyatt hotels in Rosemont; the one hosting the tournament is the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago.)
Rooms with one king bed are available for $123 per night, and rooms with two double beds are available for $131 per night (plus applicable taxes and fees). To receive the group rate, rooms must be by Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. Central time (and before the block fills). It is also possible to book by calling 800-544-9288 and mentioning the group code “TM6G,” but hold times are often long.
Between the CCCT and the other events scheduled to take place at the hotel, it is expected that the hotel will run out of rooms. ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ strongly recommends that teams book their rooms as early as possible, particularly if they want rooms with two double beds.
Guests with concerns about rooms on high floors should discuss that with the hotel as early as possible. The hotel may be able to assign sleeping rooms on lower floors. However, games may still be held on high floors.
Under Illinois law, otherwise tax-exempt organizations are still required to pay hotel occupancy taxes. (Title 86, chapter 1, , subsection b.4 of the Illinois Administrative Code; see also )
Food
There is a food court with a variety of typical food-court-style restaurants at the mall at 5220 Fashion Outlets Way. To get to the Fashion Outlets from the hotel, until you get to Fashion Outlets Way. The food court is a 15-minute walk from the hotel.
There are also several restaurants offering more formal dining at the . These are more suited for evening meals and are a away.
Participants can also order carry-out or delivery from local restaurants.
Advocate Program
Because ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ believes that quiz bowl is an activity for everybody, and in which all participants should feel welcome and respected, we have established the Advocate Program to make sure select tournament staff are available to hear reports about problematic behavior and comments by anyone at the tournament.
Staff wearing blue ribbons that say “Advocate” have been specifically selected to receive reports about inappropriate behavior (as opposed to run-of-the-mill questions about the quiz bowl aspects of the tournament). Advocate Program staff will be available in many places around the tournament site.
Feedback about problematic behavior can, of course, always be sent to ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ by email ([email protected]) or other channels such as the Misconduct Reporting Form, but the Advocate Program is intended to allow for in-person reporting of sensitive complaints on-site so they can be handled immediately.
Reports are confidential to the extent permitted by law and ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s agreements to share critical information with other quiz bowl organizations.
Practice Material
Participants may be interested in practicing on questions from previous years to prepare for the event. All of ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s past regular-season sets are available, as are the sets from previous championships.
Participants may also want to study frequency lists, Power Up study guides, and/or Thumbs Up! question anthologies. These are also available on our practice materials page.
Finally, participants may want to look at the information contained in ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s free You Gotta Know articles before the tournament. These detail the most frequently asked-about question topics in a wide variety of areas.
Spectators
Spectators are welcome to attend any part of the tournament (though some areas may have limited capacity).
No registration or tickets are required for spectators.
Sightseeing
Companion Mobile App
ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ has created a companion mobile app for attendees. The app includes the tournament schedule (with the ability to set reminders for various events), links to results, maps of the venue, connections to social media, and other important documents related to the tournament.
Further Questions
To ask specific questions about the CCCT, write to [email protected].
We look forward to answering any and all questions, no matter how expansive or trivial, in the hopes of eliminating any possible confusion or mistakes in participants’ plans. If something’s not clear, let us know!
Social Media
The official hashtag for the tournament is ccct; please use this tag for all posts about the tournament.
Remember that question content for the championship cannot be posted online (or shared through other channels)! This means that players, coaches, spectators, and moderators should not discuss clues, answers, or even overall themes (e.g., “Lots of opera”) with people on other teams (even those from the same school).