National championship

A national championship is an event purporting to award a title to the best quizbowl team in a particular country. Over the years a number of national championships have been held for college, high school, and middle school levels of play, with widely varying formats and question quality.

History of national level play

Don Reid developed the College Bowl format for American university students after success with a similar program for American GIs during WWII. By the 1990's, for a variety of reasons, College Bowl's popularity began to diminish. The Academic Competition Federation was established in 1991 and held an alternate national championship out of dissatisfaction over the CBI's handling of quiz bowl.

Corporate sponsorship has also led to formation of several national championship tournaments.

Active titles (scheduled to be awarded in 2014)

Title Tournament Awarding Title Sponsoring Organization Eligible Participants Quality status First year awarded Incumbent champion ACF Nationals Overall ACF Nationals ACF College teams Good quizbowl 1991 Illinois ACF Nationals Undergraduate ACF Nationals ACF College teams composed of undergraduates Good quizbowl 2008 Chicago ACF Nationals Division II ACF Nationals ACF College teams composed of new players Good quizbowl 2008 Illinois NAQT ICT Division I ICT NAQT College teams Good quizbowl 1997 Yale NAQT ICT Undergraduate ICT NAQT College teams composed of undergraduates Good quizbowl 1998 Ohio State NAQT ICT Division II ICT NAQT College teams composed of new players Good quizbowl 1998 Stanford NAQT ICT Division II Top Community College* ICT NAQT Community college teams Good quizbowl 2002 Chipola NAQT CCCT CCCT NAQT Community college teams Good quizbowl 2009 Chipola College History Bowl Overall College History Bowl NHBB College teams Good quizbowl 2012 Virginia College History Bowl Undergraduate College History Bowl NHBB College teams composed of undergraduates Good quizbowl 2012 Harvard HCASC HCASC College Bowl College teams from HBCUs Bad quizbowl 1990 Morgan State HSNCT HSNCT NAQT High school teams Good quizbowl 1999 LASA SSNCT SSNCT NAQT High school teams from small schools Good quizbowl 2014 None NSC NSC PACE High school teams Good quizbowl 1998 Ladue NASAT NASAT HSAPQ High school all-star teams by state Good quizbowl 2010 Missouri National History Bowl Varsity NHBB National Championships NHBB High school teams Good quizbowl 2011 Bellarmine National History Bowl JV NHBB National Championships NHBB High school teams composed of new players Good quizbowl 2011 Northmont National History Bowl Middle School§ NHBB National Championships NHBB Middle schools Good quizbowl 2012 Longfellow Middle School History Bowl§ NHBB Middle School History Bowl NHBB Middle schools Good quizbowl 2013 Stoller National History Bee Varsity NHBB National Championships NHBB High school players Good quizbowl 2011 Sameer Rai National History Bee JV NHBB National Championships NHBB High school players who are below 11th grade Good quizbowl 2011 Connor Wood National History Bee Middle School National History Bee NHBB Middle school players Good quizbowl 2012 Jonathan Tran National History Bee Elementary School National History Bee NHBB Elementary school players Good quizbowl 2012 Foster Michaelis Geography Olympiad Varsity Quizbowl Portion NHBB National Championships NHBB High school students Good quizbowl 2013 Anton Karpovich Geography Olympiad JV Quizbowl Portion NHBB National Championships NHBB High school students who are below an age cutoff Good quizbowl 2013 Taijin Rogers NAC NAC Questions Unlimited High school teams Bad quizbowl 1983 Horace Greeley NAC JV NAC Questions Unlimited High school teams composed of new players Bad quizbowl 2010 Harrison NAC Middle School NAC Questions Unlimited Middle school teams Bad quizbowl 2008 Conway Beta Club High School Beta Club National Convention Beta Club High school teams Bad quizbowl 1995 Dunbar Beta Club Middle School Beta Club National Convention Beta Club Middle school teams Bad quizbowl 1995 Blue Ridge Defunct titles Title Tournament Awarding Title Sponsoring Organization Eligible Participants Quality status First year awarded Last year awarded Last champion College Bowl NCT NCT College Bowl College teams Bad quizbowl 1978 2008 Rochester National Invitation Tournament National Invitation Tournament Emory University College teams Bad quizbowl 1979 1985 North Carolina All-American Invitational All-American Invitational IBA College teams Bad quizbowl 1988 1989 Georgia Tech CULT‡ CULT Mike Bentley Open teams Good quizbowl 2010 2010 Cheyne/Seal/Carson/Arnold TRASHionals TRASHionals TRASH Open teams Bad quizbowl 1998 2010 Quintong/Murphy/Richey/White HSNCT Top Small School HSNCT NAQT High school teams from small schools Good quizbowl 2002 2013 Macomb Tournament of Champions TOC ASCN High school teams Bad quizbowl 1987 2005 Dorman Panasonic Panasonic Academic Challenge Polk County Department of Education High school all-star teams by state Bad quizbowl 1988 2009 Johnson Central Stars 2000 Stars 2000 National Academic Tournament Academic Enterprises High school teams Bad quizbowl 1989 1991 Dorman National Academic Super Bowl National Academic Super Bowl Duval County School Board High school all-star teams by county Bad quizbowl 1981 1988 Fayette County American Academic Challenge AAC Brooks Sanders High school teams Bad quizbowl 1993 1995 Walton Scholastic Showdown Scholastic Showdown Griffin Experience High school teams Bad quizbowl 1994 1995 Eisenhower National Academic Bowl National Academic Bowl Just Asking High school teams Bad quizbowl 1996 1997 Edison National Quiz Bowl for Jesuit Schools National Quiz Bowl for Jesuit Schools Loyola Academy High school teams from Jesuit schools Bad quizbowl 2001 2001 St. Ignatius *While the Top Community College has continued to be recognized at ICT since the launch of the CCCT in 2009, NAQT's website says the ICT team is "not considered a national champion" by NAQT. ‡A sequel to CULT, COLT, was run as Chicago Open Trash in 2011, but was not billed as a national championship. §In 2013, NHBB offered both a middle school division at the high school Bowl and a separate middle school Bowl, held at distinct times on distinct questions, and open to participation in either or both tournaments by a given school. Both tournaments named middle school national champions in 2013. Staffing guide to good quizbowl nationals in 2014: [1]