Southeastern Invitational
The Southeastern Invitational has been held annually since 1970, usually at Berry but sometimes at other schools in the greater Atlanta area. This tournament essentially created the independent quizbowl circuit following the demise of the College Bowl TV show. Such programs as Emory and Georgia Tech, which were the trendsetters of the independent circuit for over twenty years, were formed in order to compete in this tournament. Personalities such as Gordon Carper, Carol Guthrie, Robert Meredith, and Don Windham, who were the most important individuals in the formation of quizbowl over that time period, all became involved through organizing or competing in this tournament.
In recent years, the tournament has become something of a "secret" event, often announced only to a quaintly selected list of participants via private e-mail, and never releasing its questions or statistics to the outside world. Despite this recent decline in prominence, its role in the early formation of quizbowl cannot be overstated.
The following list of early tournament winners was posted in 1989:
- 1970: Valdosta State
- 1971: Berry
- 1972: Georgia Southwestern
- 1973: Georgia Southern
- 1974: Berry
- 1975: Georgia Tech
- 1976: Berry
- 1977: Georgia Tech
- 1978: Georgia Tech
- 1979: Georgia Southwestern
- 1980: Georgia Tech
- 1981: Georgia Tech
- 1982: Georgia Tech
- 1983: Emory
- 1984: Davidson
- 1985: Emory
- 1986: Davidson
- 1987: Georgia Tech
- 1988: NC State
- 1989: Georgia Tech