MSHSAA - Revision history

Jeffrey Hill: /* Event limits */ limit is now a number of dates rather than number of tournaments/duals

2026-07-05T20:58:32Z

Event limits: limit is now a number of dates rather than number of tournaments/duals

Jeffrey Hill: /* State schedule */ update bad statistical outcome counts

2026-05-16T02:27:09Z

State schedule: update bad statistical outcome counts

Jeffrey Hill: /* State schedule */ apparently I miscounted last year. it happened in '22-C1; '24-C2,5,6; '25-C1,3,4,6

2025-05-17T03:00:02Z

State schedule: apparently I miscounted last year. it happened in '22-C1; '24-C2,5,6; '25-C1,3,4,6

Jeffrey Hill: /* State schedule */ update non-ideal format outcome counts for 2025

2025-05-17T02:49:40Z

State schedule: update non-ideal format outcome counts for 2025

Jeffrey Hill: /* State schedule */ Statistics of non-ideal scenarios through 2024

2024-05-12T18:23:01Z

State schedule: Statistics of non-ideal scenarios through 2024

Jeffrey Hill: The 250 mile rule is being eliminated! Also found some historical annual ballots for context on other by-laws.

2024-05-12T16:29:23Z

The 250 mile rule is being eliminated! Also found some historical annual ballots for context on other by-laws.

Show changes

Jeffrey Hill: /* Criticism of MSHSAA's involvement with Quizbowl */ Section still needs some cleanup, but this is an attempt to start by grouping past issues that no longer affect teams to a section at the end

2022-05-08T01:13:59Z

Criticism of MSHSAA's involvement with Quizbowl: Section still needs some cleanup, but this is an attempt to start by grouping past issues that no longer affect teams to a section at the end

Show changes

Jeffrey Hill: /* State Schedule */

2022-05-08T00:47:01Z

State Schedule

Jeffrey Hill: /* State Championship */ updates for 2022; trying to focus on current practice since historical info is available on the linked page

2022-05-08T00:35:42Z

State Championship: updates for 2022; trying to focus on current practice since historical info is available on the linked page

Jeffrey Hill: /* Single Gender School Multiplier */

2022-05-07T04:17:56Z

Single Gender School Multiplier

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 ====Event limits====
 MSHSAA previously limited high school students to no more than fourteen events in a season, not counting the MSHSAA championship series, while middle school students were limited to eleven. By-law 4.4.2 for the 2017-2018 season was:
 <blockquote>'''4.4.2 Individual Limits on Participation in Scholar Bowl:'''
@@ Line 82: / Line 84: @@
 This event limit most severely impacted schools in conferences that are required to play duals against all of the other members of the conference, because a dual match counted as a single event. For example, in the 2017-2018 season, each school in the [[Clarence Cannon Conference]] played dual matches against the other eight schools in the conference, followed by a Saturday conference tournament, using nine of their fourteen allowable events.
-The Scholar Bowl Advisory Committee has repeatedly recommended increasing the tournament limit only to be denied by the MSHSAA Board of Directors. A change was finally adopted for the 2018-2019 season that does not increase the number of tournaments schools can attend, but does provide some relief for schools with dual-heavy schedules by making a distinction between duals and tournaments. The new by-law gives schools options that are analogous to the scheduling options provided in some sports. As of that season, by-law 4.4.2 reads:
+The Scholar Bowl Advisory Committee has repeatedly recommended increasing the tournament limit only to be denied by the MSHSAA Board of Directors. A change was finally adopted for the 2018-2019 season that does not increase the number of tournaments schools can attend, but does provide some relief for schools with dual-heavy schedules by making a distinction between duals and tournaments. The new by-law gives schools options that are analogous to the scheduling options provided in some sports. As of that season, by-law 4.4.2 read:
 <blockquote>'''4.4.2 Limits on Participation in Scholar Bowl:''' The options for contests permitted for each school team and each individual participant are shown below.
@@ Line 92: / Line 94: @@
 c. 9th grade students if participating at the junior high level are eligible to participate on a high school team but may not exceed, individually, the scheduling option played by the high school team on which he/she plays.</blockquote></blockquote>
-With this change, the eight high schools in the Clarence Cannon Conference each may now attend seven tournaments in addition to their conference commitments. This is only a one tournament increase from the six tournaments they would have been able to attend under the previous version of the by-law, as [[Louisiana (MO)|Louisiana]] left the conference at the same time the change took effect. On the other hand, this change imposes a ''reduction'' in the number of allowed tournaments for schools that participate in 1-5 or 11 duals, as the 2018-2019 Scholar Bowl manual defines a tournament as an event with three or more teams. The wording change also imposes the limits on both individual students and school teams, matching MSHSAA's interpretation of the previous by-law.
+With this change, the eight high schools in the Clarence Cannon Conference each could now attend seven tournaments in addition to their conference commitments. This was only a one tournament increase from the six tournaments they would have been able to attend under the previous version of the by-law, as [[Louisiana (MO)|Louisiana]] left the conference at the same time the change took effect. On the other hand, this change imposed a ''reduction'' in the number of allowed tournaments for schools that participated in 1-5 or 11 duals, as the 2018-2019 Scholar Bowl manual defined a tournament as an event with three or more teams. The wording change also imposed the limits on both individual students and school teams, matching MSHSAA's interpretation of the previous by-law.
 This change also severely reduced the number of tournaments middle school teams may attend from eleven to five, which was completely unexpected and not at all recommended by the Advisory Committee. This was rectified in the 2020-21 season with member schools approving the addition of an option for "0 duals and 11 tournaments".
 ====Restrictions on competitions outside of the regular season====

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 After the [[2021 MSHSAA Realignment]], only four teams in each class advance to the state finals in Columbia. As of 2022, the state format is now to play a full round robin, with the top two teams by record then average points advancing to the championship game and the other two teams advancing to the third place game. This format guarantees that there will be a championship game, with the consequence of putting disproportionate weight on that final round, including these potential scenarios:
-* If the preliminary rounds break cleanly and the 2-1 team wins the championship game over the 3-0 team, the team that won the championship game wins the tournament even though the other team has the same record on a common schedule, including a win over the state champion in the preliminary rounds. This effectively makes the preliminary game played between the two teams statistically meaningless since both teams still would have advanced to the championship game if the result were flipped. This also means that if the two games between the teams were flipped such that the preliminary result happened in the championship game and the championship result happened in the preliminary game, a different champion would be determined by the same set of games without any possible effect on the match schedule. The #2 seed has won the championship game in this situation eight times (out of 24 total championship games through 2025), with the state champion scoring fewer points over the four rounds than the second place team four times.
+* If the preliminary rounds break cleanly and the 2-1 team wins the championship game over the 3-0 team, the team that won the championship game wins the tournament even though the other team has the same record on a common schedule, including a win over the state champion in the preliminary rounds. This effectively makes the preliminary game played between the two teams statistically meaningless since both teams still would have advanced to the championship game if the result were flipped. This also means that if the two games between the teams were flipped such that the preliminary result happened in the championship game and the championship result happened in the preliminary game, a different champion would be determined by the same set of games without any possible effect on the match schedule. The #2 seed has won the championship game in this situation nine times (out of 30 total championship games through 2026), with the state champion scoring fewer points over the four rounds than the second place team five times.
-* In a specific case of the previous scenario, if the last preliminary round features two undefeated teams and two winless teams, the results of that round are statistically meaningless even before the game is played, as the undefeated teams are guaranteed to rematch in the championship game and the winless teams will rematch in the third place game. This has occurred four times total through 2025. [[2024 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_6_2|Class 6 in 2024]] is the only case when the losing team in the round 3 preliminary game won the championship game, though in this case the state champion had a higher point average over the four games.
+* In a specific case of the previous scenario, if the last preliminary round features two undefeated teams and two winless teams, the results of that round are statistically meaningless even before the game is played, as the undefeated teams are guaranteed to rematch in the championship game and the winless teams will rematch in the third place game. This has occurred six times total through 2026. [[2024 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_6_2|Class 6 in 2024]] is the only case when the losing team in the round 3 preliminary game won the championship game, though in this case the state champion had a higher point average over the four games.
-* If the preliminary rounds have a 3-0 team and three 1-2 teams, the 3-0 team would clear the field if the tournament were to use the [[ACF finals format]], but in the MSHSAA format, the top ranking 1-2 team could win the tournament if they defeat the 3-0 team in the championship game. That makes it possible for a 2-2 team to win a state championship over a 3-1 team that played a common schedule. Through 2024, the prelims ended with a three way tie at 1-2 only in [[2023 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_4_2|Class 4 in 2023]] and the #1 seed convincingly won the championship game.
+* If the preliminary rounds have a 3-0 team and three 1-2 teams, the 3-0 team would clear the field if the tournament were to use the [[ACF finals format]], but in the MSHSAA format, the top ranking 1-2 team could win the tournament if they defeat the 3-0 team in the championship game. That makes it possible for a 2-2 team to win a state championship over a 3-1 team that played a common schedule. Through 2026, the prelims ended with a three way tie at 1-2 only in [[2023 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_4_2|Class 4 in 2023]] and the #1 seed convincingly won the championship game.
-Additionally, if three teams go 2-1 in the preliminary rounds, statistical tiebreakers are used to eliminate the team with the fewest points from championship contention. This has happened in at least one class each year and five times total through 2025.
+Additionally, if three teams go 2-1 in the preliminary rounds, statistical tiebreakers are used to eliminate the team with the fewest points from championship contention. This has happened in at least one class each year and seven times total through 2026. If the team eliminated by this points tiebreaker then loses the third place game to the winless #4 seed, they end up in fourth place behind a team with a worse record on a common schedule; this first happened in [[2026 MSHSAA State Championship|2026]] in Classes 4 and 5.
 ====Influence on regular season tournaments====

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 After the [[2021 MSHSAA Realignment]], only four teams in each class advance to the state finals in Columbia. As of 2022, the state format is now to play a full round robin, with the top two teams by record then average points advancing to the championship game and the other two teams advancing to the third place game. This format guarantees that there will be a championship game, with the consequence of putting disproportionate weight on that final round, including these potential scenarios:
-* If the preliminary rounds break cleanly and the 2-1 team wins the championship game over the 3-0 team, the team that won the championship game wins the tournament even though the other team has the same record on a common schedule, including a win over the state champion in the preliminary rounds. This effectively makes the preliminary game played between the two teams statistically meaningless since both teams still would have advanced to the championship game if the result were flipped. This also means that if the two games between the teams were flipped such that the preliminary result happened in the championship game and the championship result happened in the preliminary game, a different champion would be determined by the same set of games without any possible effect on the match schedule. The #2 seed has won the championship game in this situation nine times through 2025, with the state champion scoring fewer points over the four rounds than the second place team four times.
+* If the preliminary rounds break cleanly and the 2-1 team wins the championship game over the 3-0 team, the team that won the championship game wins the tournament even though the other team has the same record on a common schedule, including a win over the state champion in the preliminary rounds. This effectively makes the preliminary game played between the two teams statistically meaningless since both teams still would have advanced to the championship game if the result were flipped. This also means that if the two games between the teams were flipped such that the preliminary result happened in the championship game and the championship result happened in the preliminary game, a different champion would be determined by the same set of games without any possible effect on the match schedule. The #2 seed has won the championship game in this situation eight times (out of 24 total championship games through 2025), with the state champion scoring fewer points over the four rounds than the second place team four times.
 * In a specific case of the previous scenario, if the last preliminary round features two undefeated teams and two winless teams, the results of that round are statistically meaningless even before the game is played, as the undefeated teams are guaranteed to rematch in the championship game and the winless teams will rematch in the third place game. This has occurred four times total through 2025. [[2024 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_6_2|Class 6 in 2024]] is the only case when the losing team in the round 3 preliminary game won the championship game, though in this case the state champion had a higher point average over the four games.
 * If the preliminary rounds have a 3-0 team and three 1-2 teams, the 3-0 team would clear the field if the tournament were to use the [[ACF finals format]], but in the MSHSAA format, the top ranking 1-2 team could win the tournament if they defeat the 3-0 team in the championship game. That makes it possible for a 2-2 team to win a state championship over a 3-1 team that played a common schedule. Through 2024, the prelims ended with a three way tie at 1-2 only in [[2023 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_4_2|Class 4 in 2023]] and the #1 seed convincingly won the championship game.

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 After the [[2021 MSHSAA Realignment]], only four teams in each class advance to the state finals in Columbia. As of 2022, the state format is now to play a full round robin, with the top two teams by record then average points advancing to the championship game and the other two teams advancing to the third place game. This format guarantees that there will be a championship game, with the consequence of putting disproportionate weight on that final round, including these potential scenarios:
-* If the preliminary rounds break cleanly and the 2-1 team wins the championship game over the 3-0 team, the team that won the championship game wins the tournament even though the other team has the same record on a common schedule, including a win over the state champion in the preliminary rounds. This effectively makes the preliminary game played between the two teams statistically meaningless since both teams still would have advanced to the championship game if the result were flipped. This also means that if the two games between the teams were flipped such that the preliminary result happened in the championship game and the championship result happened in the preliminary game, a different champion would be determined by the same set of games without any possible effect on the match schedule. The #2 seed has won the championship game in this situation five times through 2024, with [[2022 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_1_2|Class 1 in 2022]] being the only instance where the state champion scored fewer points over the four rounds than the second place team.
+* If the preliminary rounds break cleanly and the 2-1 team wins the championship game over the 3-0 team, the team that won the championship game wins the tournament even though the other team has the same record on a common schedule, including a win over the state champion in the preliminary rounds. This effectively makes the preliminary game played between the two teams statistically meaningless since both teams still would have advanced to the championship game if the result were flipped. This also means that if the two games between the teams were flipped such that the preliminary result happened in the championship game and the championship result happened in the preliminary game, a different champion would be determined by the same set of games without any possible effect on the match schedule. The #2 seed has won the championship game in this situation nine times through 2025, with the state champion scoring fewer points over the four rounds than the second place team four times.
-* In a specific case of the previous scenario, if the last preliminary round features two undefeated teams and two winless teams, the results of that round are statistically meaningless even before the game is played, as the undefeated teams are guaranteed to rematch in the championship game and the winless teams will rematch in the third place game. This has occurred in at least one class each year and four times total through 2024. [[2024 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_6_2|Class 6 in 2024]] is the only case when the losing team in the round 3 preliminary game won the championship game, though in this case the state champion had a higher point average over the four games.
+* In a specific case of the previous scenario, if the last preliminary round features two undefeated teams and two winless teams, the results of that round are statistically meaningless even before the game is played, as the undefeated teams are guaranteed to rematch in the championship game and the winless teams will rematch in the third place game. This has occurred four times total through 2025. [[2024 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_6_2|Class 6 in 2024]] is the only case when the losing team in the round 3 preliminary game won the championship game, though in this case the state champion had a higher point average over the four games.
 * If the preliminary rounds have a 3-0 team and three 1-2 teams, the 3-0 team would clear the field if the tournament were to use the [[ACF finals format]], but in the MSHSAA format, the top ranking 1-2 team could win the tournament if they defeat the 3-0 team in the championship game. That makes it possible for a 2-2 team to win a state championship over a 3-1 team that played a common schedule. Through 2024, the prelims ended with a three way tie at 1-2 only in [[2023 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_4_2|Class 4 in 2023]] and the #1 seed convincingly won the championship game.
-Additionally, if three teams go 2-1 in the preliminary rounds, statistical tiebreakers are used to eliminate the team with the fewest points from championship contention. This has happened in at least one class each year and four times total through 2024.
+Additionally, if three teams go 2-1 in the preliminary rounds, statistical tiebreakers are used to eliminate the team with the fewest points from championship contention. This has happened in at least one class each year and five times total through 2025.
 ====Influence on regular season tournaments====

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 After the [[2021 MSHSAA Realignment]], only four teams in each class advance to the state finals in Columbia. As of 2022, the state format is now to play a full round robin, with the top two teams by record then average points advancing to the championship game and the other two teams advancing to the third place game. This format guarantees that there will be a championship game, with the consequence of putting disproportionate weight on that final round, including these potential scenarios:
-* If the preliminary rounds break cleanly and the 2-1 team wins the championship game over the 3-0 team, the team that won the championship game wins the tournament even though the other team has the same record on a common schedule, including a win over the state champion in the preliminary rounds. This effectively makes the preliminary game played between the two teams statistically meaningless since both teams still would have advanced to the championship game if the result were flipped. This also means that if the two games between the teams were flipped such that the preliminary result happened in the championship game and the championship result happened in the preliminary game, a different champion would be determined by the same set of games without any possible effect on the match schedule.
+* If the preliminary rounds break cleanly and the 2-1 team wins the championship game over the 3-0 team, the team that won the championship game wins the tournament even though the other team has the same record on a common schedule, including a win over the state champion in the preliminary rounds. This effectively makes the preliminary game played between the two teams statistically meaningless since both teams still would have advanced to the championship game if the result were flipped. This also means that if the two games between the teams were flipped such that the preliminary result happened in the championship game and the championship result happened in the preliminary game, a different champion would be determined by the same set of games without any possible effect on the match schedule. The #2 seed has won the championship game in this situation five times through 2024, with [[2022 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_1_2|Class 1 in 2022]] being the only instance where the state champion scored fewer points over the four rounds than the second place team.
-* In a specific case of the previous scenario, if the last preliminary round features two undefeated teams and two winless teams, the results of that round are statistically meaningless even before the game is played, as the undefeated teams are guaranteed to rematch in the championship game and the winless teams will rematch in the third place game.
+* In a specific case of the previous scenario, if the last preliminary round features two undefeated teams and two winless teams, the results of that round are statistically meaningless even before the game is played, as the undefeated teams are guaranteed to rematch in the championship game and the winless teams will rematch in the third place game. This has occurred in at least one class each year and four times total through 2024. [[2024 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_6_2|Class 6 in 2024]] is the only case when the losing team in the round 3 preliminary game won the championship game, though in this case the state champion had a higher point average over the four games.
-* If the preliminary rounds have a 3-0 team and three 1-2 teams, the 3-0 team would clear the field if the tournament were to use the [[ACF finals format]], but in the MSHSAA format, the top ranking 1-2 team could win the tournament if they defeat the 3-0 team in the championship game. That makes it possible for a 2-2 team to win a state championship over a 3-1 team that played a common schedule.
+* If the preliminary rounds have a 3-0 team and three 1-2 teams, the 3-0 team would clear the field if the tournament were to use the [[ACF finals format]], but in the MSHSAA format, the top ranking 1-2 team could win the tournament if they defeat the 3-0 team in the championship game. That makes it possible for a 2-2 team to win a state championship over a 3-1 team that played a common schedule. Through 2024, the prelims ended with a three way tie at 1-2 only in [[2023 MSHSAA State Championship#Class_4_2|Class 4 in 2023]] and the #1 seed convincingly won the championship game.
 ====Influence on regular season tournaments====

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 :''Main article: [[MSHSAA State Championship]]''
-The [[MSHSAA State Championship]] is held in early May. Teams are divided into four classes, each with sixteen districts. District tournaments are hosted in early April, with the winners of adjacent districts meeting in an after school sectional meet in a best two-of-three format to determine the eight teams that go to state.
+The [[MSHSAA State Championship]] is held in early May. Teams are divided into six classes, each with eight districts. District tournaments are hosted in early April, with the winners of adjacent districts meeting in an after school quarterfinal meet in a best two-of-three format to determine the four teams that go to the state finals.
-From 1996-2018, games during the MSHSAA series were run in a [[four-quarter format]], with 15 tossups in the first and third quarters, and 10 tossups with 20 point multi-part bonuses in the second and fourth quarters. MSHSAA approved a three-year trial of a 26-[[tossup-bonus format|tossup, three-part bonus format]] for the 2019-2021 seasons, using 22 tossup-bonus NAQT packets with additional math questions. In both formats, all tossups are worth 10 points with no negs.
+Rounds are scheduled to run an hour each. District tournaments consist of three preliminary rounds followed by four team single elimination playoffs. If a district has only two or three teams, an alternate schedule specified by MSHSAA is used instead. The state tournament was run the same way when it had eight teams, but now consists of a four-team round robin to seed the championship game and third place game.
-The 2021 season featured 20/20 for the first time in MSHSAA history, after the three-year trial was cut short due to NAQT's ban on in-person tournaments during COVID; instead, the state series used (lower-quality) questions supplied by [[Academic Hallmarks]].
+Starting in 2022, games during the MSHSAA series consist of 22 [[Tossup-bonus format|tossups with three-part rebounding bonuses]] using questions from [[NAQT]]. All tossups and bonus parts are worth 10 points each, with no powers or negs. Previously, games were run in a [[four-quarter format]], from the tournament's inception in 1996 until 2018. MSHSAA approved a three-year trial of a 26-tossup, three-part bonus format for the 2019-2021 seasons, using 22 tossup-bonus NAQT packets with additional math questions. This format was ultimately only used in 2019, as the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 tournament reduced each game to 20 cycles due to a limited number of available questions.
 ==MSHSAA and Quizbowl==

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 ===Single Gender School Multiplier===
-Classes are based on enrollment to group similarly sized schools together, with the population of single-gender schools doubled. This doubling was intended to equalize populations in single-gender sports, but was also applied to co-educational activities like Scholar Bowl. As a result, some single-gender schools were bumped to a higher class than co-educational private schools of the same size. This unfair practice was resolved in the 2020-2021 school year as part of replacing the 1.35 private school multiplier with a "championship factor" across all activities to classify private schools based on recent championship series placements, with an "editor's note" on MSHSAA by-law 5.1.5 clarifying that the single-gender multiplier is not applied to co-educational activities like Scholar Bowl.
+Classes are based on enrollment to group similarly sized schools together, with the population of single-gender schools doubled. This doubling is intended to equalize populations in single-gender sports, but through 2020 was also applied to co-educational activities like Scholar Bowl. As a result, some single-gender schools were bumped to a higher class than co-educational private schools of the same size. This unfair practice was resolved in the 2020-2021 school year as part of replacing the 1.35 private school multiplier with a "championship factor" across all activities to classify private schools based on recent championship series placements, with an "editor's note" on MSHSAA by-law 5.1.5 clarifying that the single-gender multiplier is not applied to co-educational activities like Scholar Bowl.
 ==Links==