Buzzpoints

The buzzpoint is the exact point in the text of a tossup at which some player buzzed, or a curve, median, or other statistic that generalizes where an entire group of players being measured buzzed over the course of a tossup.

The buzzpoint is the most obviously valuable new information gained by detailed stats and has been used in various attempts at new player ranking metrics as well as analysis of tournament difficulty. Buzzpoints are usually measured by the specific word on which a player buzzed, which a moderator or scorekeeper using the advanced stats scorekeeping software can click on to indicate the buzzpoint.

A close look at buzzpoints from 2018 ACF Regionals found, among other trends, that correct buzzes within the first 25% of tossups were rare even in a set widely played by top players, that certain questions had much smoother buzzpoint curves than others which had identifiable "buzzer race" spikes, and that rates of negs varied drastically across subjects/questions.

Buzzpoints have grown in use over time and as of the 2025-2026 school year are usually readily available after every non-NAQT college tournament in discussion servers. When sets are cleared, they can often be found in quizbowlstats.com. They also show statistics on when bonuses were answered.