Scholars Bowl Rules/Format

Vermont-NEA Scholars' Bowl

Tournament rules
(Updated January 2022)

Each two-team match has three parts: toss-up and bonus questions, rapid-fire questions, and more toss-up questions. Teams may change players only between rounds.

Part one: Toss-ups and Bonus.

This part of the competition is 10 minutes long.
No more than four students per team.
No consultation between teammates on toss-up questions.
Only the student who buzzes in first has three seconds to answer a toss-up question worth ten points.
For all toss-up questions, the student who rings the buzzer first may not answer until the moderator recognizes him/her by school and last name.
Incorrect answers given after the full question has been read are not penalized.
If a person buzzes in prior to the full question being read with an incorrect answer the team is assessed a five-point penalty and the remainder of the question is read to the opposing team. If the second team also interrupts the moderator with an incorrect answer, it too is penalized five points.
The team that correctly answers a toss-up question may then collaborate on a bonus question worth up to twenty points. The team typically receives five seconds to begin answering, though computational math questions the team receives ten seconds. Answers on bonus questions should be made through the team captain or a designee, clearly identified by the captain. If the bonus has multiple parts, the team has five seconds to give each answer.
Any part of the bonus that the team does not get, is offered to the opposition for a chance to steal. Bounceback answers typically must be given within three seconds, but on computiational math questions the team receives the remainder of the ten seconds if the first team gave an early answer. Each part of the bonus must be asked of both teams first before going onto the next part.
On three-part bonus questions, each part is worth five points, and if a team gets all three parts, it receives an additional five for a total of 20 points.

Part two: Rapid Fire

No more than six students participating. Lineups must be set prior to the announcement of categories.
The team with the lower score has the choice of two categories read by the moderator (the instructions may NOT be read until a category is chosen). If the score is tied, a coin toss will decide which team will go first.
Ten questions worth five points apiece
If any team “sweeps” a category, getting all 10 answers correct, it gets an additional 10-point bonus
After the reading of the instructions, a team will have 60 seconds to answer all ten questions.
All answers are to be from the team captain or his or her designee.
If unsure of an answer, a team may call “Pass” to skip over the question and go on to the next. Passed questions may be re-read if time allows.
At the end of the 60-second period, the opposing team will have 45 seconds to answer any passed or incorrectly answered questions.

Part three: Toss-up Questions

This part of the competition is nine minutes long.
No more than four students per team.
Only toss-up questions are read. There is no collaboration between students.
For all toss-up questions, the student who rings the buzzer first may not answer until the moderator recognizes him/her by school and last name.
All questions are worth 10 points, with the same rules applying as in the first round regarding interruptions and missed answers.

Teams may not ask for questions to be re-read by the moderator.

Any discrepancies in student answers must be made prior to the next question being read. The judge will act accordingly, conferring with the moderator and coaches and stopping the clock, if necessary. The ruling of the judge is final.

SuperRegional Format

Regions are established by geographical proximity.
Regional directors will poll the teams in the region to find a mutually agreeable date on which to hold the SuperRegional, then open up the date to any schools outside the region that are interested in participating.
There will only be one SuperRegional per region, but teams may travel to play in one other SuperRegional (a maximum of three total).
Schools may play more than one team, but if they are bringing more than one team, they might be required to bring along extra readers as well.
A play schedule will be issued on the SuperRegional date that will allow each team to play in five matches, with some attention to having regional opponents play one another, as well as attempting to keep school teams from playing one another.
All matches will be read by coaches, teachers and other volunteers.
The match format for SuperRegional play only will differ from regular matches in that there will be no Rapid Fire (second) round. The first round will still be tossups and bonuses (10 minutes) with bouncebacks on the bonus, and the other round will be just tossups (nine minutes).
Although the scores will be reported and put on the Scholars' Bowl website, there will be no regional champion and the results will not count toward the playoffs.
Ties in SuperRegional matches: Ties in regional matches are not broken.

Playoff Format

All teams that participate in the SuperRegionals qualify for the playoffs. Each school may only have one varsity team in the playoffs. A separate JV bracket might be held simultaneously.

First date

Each school will play five matches. All matches will be played simultaneously with the same set of questions.
The match schedule will be set by a card system. Each team receives a numbered card that indicates its room and opponent for the next match. At the end of the match, the winning team takes the lower-numbered of the two cards, the losing team takes the higher-numbered card and the teams follow those cards to their next match. This system keeps teams playing opponents that have achieved similar results.
A random draw will set teams' first-round opponents.
All teams finishing with records of 5-0 or 4-1 are placed in the A division for the second day of the playoffs. All teams with 3-2 records are placed in the Medlar Cup division.

Second date

The Medlar Cup playoffs are played out in their entirety, with the champion having an automatic berth in the A-division playoffs that follow. The matches are played in a single-elimination format.
Any team that emerges from the first day of playoffs with a 5-0 record will get a bye to the semifinals, all other teams will play in the quarterfinals. All matches are played in a single-elimination format.
The bracket for the playoffs will be set by a seeding committee that will look at each team's record, scoring and strength of opposition to place the teams fairly in the bracket.
The A division will play through its entirety on this day.

Playoff score tie-breaker: Any ties at the end of a playoff match will be decided through a five toss-up mini-round, with the team answering the most number of correct answers the winner (each question counts as one point). If the teams are still tied, another five questions will be asked, and this will repeat until an outright winner is decided. There are no penalties for incorrect answers.