Proposal for Penn Bowl 10

• From: samer_ismail
• Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 16:40:25 -0700
• Message-ID: <000SF7DV9.001O5MQON.12170551-quizbowl_at_...>

I would like to propose the following format for
Penn Bowl 10 (currently scheduled for Super Bowl
weekend, 2001). I should point out that this is only a
proposal, and that nothing here is set in stone. Comments,
questions, and suggestions are most certainly
welcome.

Note that this format is designed for *65*
teams.

***************************

PHASE I (rounds 1-13):

Teams are divided into 5
brackets of 13 teams. Each bracket plays a full
round-robin (12 games/team), after which, teams are ranked
1-13. Teams are then divided into three classes, based
on finish:
Class A: teams 1-5
Class B: teams
6-10
Class C: teams 11-13


PHASE II (rounds
14-18):

Thirteen brackets of 5 are constructed, with all teams in
a bracket coming from the same class, with one team
from each original bracket (e.g., A1-B2-C3-D4-E5,
A7-B8-C9-D10-E6).

Each bracket then plays a full round-robin (4
games/team).

Teams in Class A would then be ranked 1-25 by the
following criteria:
(1) overall W/L record.
(2) W/L
record against Class A teams (note that every team in
Class A has now played EIGHT matches against Class A
teams--four in Phase I, four in Phase II).
(3)
head-to-head (assuming all teams in a tie have played each
other).
(4) point-based criteria--specifically: total points
scored against Class A teams, points per tossup heard
against Class A teams, and/or points per bonus
heard.


PHASE III (rounds 19-):

The top 8-16 teams would
advance to single elimination play as at previous Penn
Bowls.

***************************

I see a number of advantages to this
system:

(1) The top teams will play more matches against one
another (50-60%).

(2) There is NO "differential"
rewarding of wins and losses; it doesn't matter when you
play, only who you play.

(3) A master schedule
can be generated in advance.

(4) Submitted
packets could be used in EVERY round until the
playoffs.

(5) While it does not completely eliminate the
possibility of bracketing snafus, it makes them far less
damaging. For example, if a bracket-of-death were to occur
in Phase I, those teams would play more matches in
Phase II against weaker opponents.

(6) The
schedule could be set up (e.g., 6 rounds Friday, 7 rounds
Saturday AM) so that the "number-crunching" after Phase I
could be done during the lunch break on Saturday,
minimizing administrative delays.

(7) There would be
NO REPEAT matches until the playoffs, and teams can
NOT play each other than twice.

As I said, I
welcome any comments, questions, or suggestions about
this proposal.

--STI