Robin, I'll leave it to someone from NAQT to defend their formula (the components of which seem to be pretty much dead on, from what we've seen), but I wanted to address a couple of your other points: 4 - "The bonus factor": While your team may have received a few bonus questions that weren't up your alley, the same thing was certainly happening to your opponents. Over the course of a tournament, things tend to even out. Also, bonus conversion is extremely valuable in comparing teams between regions because it is the one stat we can keep that is unaffected by the quality of your opponents. 1 - "The weak Midsouth Div II field": The reason NAQT considered the region "weak" was entirely due to the anemic stats put up by the teams. Compare the bonus conversion stats, e.g., between the Midsouth teams and teams from other regions. While the top Div II teams in the Midsouth maxed out around 11pts/30, several teams in the Midwest, New England, and South were about 14/30 and Berkeley's Div II team averaged over 17/30. Again, this is a stat that is unaffected by field strength, so being able to make your own schedule wouldn't change it. 3 - Community Colleges: Having seen Valencia's teams play in a couple of Gainesville tournaments, let me assure you that they will be more than able to compete against 4 year schools at the ICT - and may have won a few Div II SCT's if they had entered. Check out their bonus conversion rate from the CC SCT's. Also, I may be wrong but I don't believe that Florida's Div II team got an automatic bid by beating Georgia in that playoff game. I believe NAQT just crunched the stats and came up with the best 24 or so teams. Florida probably edged Georgia based on a slightly better bonus conversion (~11.1 vs ~10.1) and TU won/TU heard (43% vs 37%), along with whatever other numbers go into their formula. Finally, take a look at Florida C's numbers from last year's SCT. The same Florida team that beat Georgia in the playoff game this year had stats last year almost identical to Georgia's this year. Work hard, enjoy the extra year in Div II, and you'll have as good a shot as anyone in the region in 2004. -Daniel Nordby University of Florida (though not speaking for its team) > The basics: UGA B, our Div II team, placed 2nd in the Midsouth > Regionals by means of a playoff against Florida, a team they beat > previously. Upon looking at the stats, I noticed that UGA was the > ONLY 2nd place team in the nation to not get a bid to the ICT. Upon > further review (and some emails to NAQT), the following reasons were > given: > 1- The Midsouth region, was, in NAQT's eyes, the weakest Div II > region in the nation. The reason for the supposed "weakness" > of the > Midsouth D2 roster is the fact that most of the players were fresh > out of high school, and some have never played NAQT in their life. No > team can control who they play at the SCT, and penalizing them for > that just does not seem right. As opposed to college football teams, > we do not have the liberty of making our own schedules. If Florida, > who played the exact same "weak" teams we did, gets a bid for > winning > a playoff, once again, why cant we? (I know they won the Region, but > someone out there has to see my logic, no?) > > 2- The whole "secret forumla" spiel: If NAQT is so proud and > confident about their formula, then why is it so secret? We're > not > talking about eleven herbs and spices here, we're talking about > Quizbowl, and keeping a secret formula just that, a secret, can make > some people begin to wonder what the truth really is. The solution > should be simple: take the top two from each region regardless, and > then go from there. In some cases (such as ours), the top two are > determined by playoffs and tiebreakers. > > 3- Community Colleges playing Div II: In my eyes, CCs should not be > playing four years schools in the ICT. If you want CCs to play at the > D2 level at the ICT against four-year schools, they should play D2 at > the SCT. If this is not the wish of NAQT, I suggest creating a > Division III. > > 4- The "bonus factor:" Bonuses do not necessarily mean all that much > in my eyes. Sometimes you get extremely hard bonuses on Quantum > Physics (when no one on your team knows diddly about it) and score 30 > points on the ones your opponents get. Getting the right bonus is > (pardon the pun) a toss-up. > > I wouldnt be making this case to NAQT and the Court of Public Opinion > if I didnt feel that my team, who played to win, did there best. In > fact, they exceeded way beyond my expectations. Regardless of a bid > or not, Im proud of them, and I do not mind sticking my neck way out > for them. Im hoping to continue UGA's involvement in NAQT. It was > just that I couldnt sit on the sidelines and see what I feel was a > gross error go by the wayside. > Thanks for hearing me out, > > Robin J Richards > Speaking for and on the behalf of UGA College Bowl > Quizdogs_at_u... > "Knowing is half the battle...the other 60% is ringing in first."
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0: Sat 12 Feb 2022 12:30:46 AM EST EST