ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ

Selectivity

• Tournaments are not qualifiers if their registration criteria are based on skill or perceived skill in any way such that more skilled teams (or teams perceived as more skilled) are not permitted.
• Events that are limited based on year in school, “Junior Varsity” events, and so forth are considered selective in this manner.
• Events that are limited based on school size, type of school (e.g. public schools only), affiliation (e.g. only schools affiliated with a particular religious denomination), geography (e.g. only schools in a specific county), or membership in an established conference or league are not considered selective in this manner.
• Conversely, tournaments designed for, or limited to, especially skilled teams (e.g., state championships and “nationals prep” tournaments) may still be qualifiers (if they meet all the other relevant criteria).

Byes and Forfeit Wins

• Due to imbalanced pools, odd numbers of teams in power-matching systems, or for other reasons, a team may be credited with a forfeit win over a “Bye” team. Forfeit wins may also be credited against teams who registered for a tournament but failed to show up. In these situations and others that ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ deems similar, the bye or no-show team does not count toward the number of teams in the field used to determine the number of teams who will qualify from that tournament. (It also does not count toward the number of teams for which the host must pay.)
• The above paragraph does not apply when forfeit wins are issued against teams who arrive late (but eventually do show up), return late from a break, do not return after a break, etc. If a team actually plays any games in a tournament, the team counts toward the number of teams in attendance.

Partial Use of Non-ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ Questions

• If a tournament incorporates non-ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions into games that also use ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions (i.e. each game uses both ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ and non-ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions), or uses ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions for some rounds and non-ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions for some rounds such that an individual team will play both ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ and non-ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions, ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ will inquire with the host as to the specific nature of the non-ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ question use, and a tournament-specific decision will be made based on the relative amounts of each type of question and possibly other factors at ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s discretion.
• If a tournament has multiple divisions, some using ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions and some not, and the divisions are based on any factor related to skill or perceived skill, then:
  • Only the divisions using ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions will be considered in the field size for invitation purposes.
  • If the “most competitive” division uses ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions, then it and all other divisions using ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions will be considered for national championship qualification. (As usual, all divisions using ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions will be considered when calculating the field size, and invitations will be issued starting with the “most competitive” division.)
  • If the “most competitive” division does not use ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions, then no division from the tournament will be a qualifier for any ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ national championship.
• If a tournament has multiple divisions, some using ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions and some not, and the divisions are based on non-skill-related factors, then each division using ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions will be treated as a separate tournament for the purpose of determining national championship invitations. (Divisions using non-ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ questions will not be qualifiers.)

Ineligible Teams

• For most events, tournament directors may (but are not encouraged to) permit teams that do not meet ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ eligibility rules (middle school, high school, Small [high] School, community college, collegiate). This is most commonly done to allow teams of players that do not all attend the same school and/or to allow a team to compete even if other players from the same school have already played the same questions. ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ does not encourage this, and tournament directors considering allowing such teams should read the guide about the implications of allowing ineligible teams.
• Ineligible teams are never permitted at Sectional Championship Tournaments (including Community College Sectional Championship Tournaments), nor at any ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ national championship.

State-Specific Policies

• ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ attempts to follow rules specific to state activities or athletics associations that claim jurisdiction over quiz bowl in a way that affects teams’ interactions with ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ.
• In particular, this means that members of may not receive wildcard invitations or be standby teams for tournaments held after the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, unless at least one team from the school has already qualified.
• However, ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ will not adhere to policies in a way that affects “other teams.” For instance, if Team X is a member of a state association that forbids Team X from playing Team Y (for any reason), ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ will not disinvite Team Y—the onus is on Team X to follow any necessary rules (e.g. by forfeiting games scheduled against Team Y, though ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ sincerely hopes this will never be necessary).

Rules

If a one-day tournament allows players to switch teams, any school with players who switched teams can qualify at most one team for national championships.

“Gaming the System”

ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ reserves the right to abrogate or modify any of its qualification policies if it believes that anything is being done in an attempt to “game the system” (a term that ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ will interpret at its discretion).

Middle School Teams at High School Tournaments

If teams of middle schoolers from three or more distinct schools attend a high school tournament, the tournament will be treated as a qualifier to the Middle School National Championship Tournament, with the same qualification rules as usual (and only middle school teams considered for said qualification). Otherwise, such tournaments are not qualifiers to the MSNCT.

Special Situations

A winless team is in the top 30% of Small School teams at a tournament, and teams with wins are not.

Because of the policy on ranking teams in skill- or perceived-skill-based divisions, it is possible for a team to finish at the bottom of an upper division, without any wins, but in the top 30% of Small School teams, while there are Small School teams with wins in lower divisions. In this case, ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ stops assigning qualifiers as soon as a winless team is encountered in the rankings. Therefore, fewer than the usual 30% of teams may qualify.

A team’s only wins are forfeits

SSNCT qualification rules state that a team must win at least one game to be invited to the SSNCT. That win must occur in actual gameplay; forfeit wins (for any reason) are not sufficient.

Varying definitions of “small school”

Some tournaments may assign divisions, issue awards, etc., based on definitions of “small school” that differ from ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s definition of “Small School.” (For instance, the enrollment cutoff may be different.) In such cases, ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ will do its best to issue SSNCT invitations in accordance with its usual policies, subject to the constraint that no school that does not meet ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ’s definition of “Small School” will ever be invited to the SSNCT. Hosts are welcome to contact ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ to ask in advance how their scheme will be interpreted for the sake of issuing SSNCT invitations.