Cardinal Classic VII
Cardinal Classic VII was a tournament held at Stanford the weekend of February 7-8, 1997. The tournament was criticized by some for excessive delays in gameplay as well as some problematic questions, including a large number of repeats.
Results
Teams competed in a 14-game round robin, after which the top three teams were: Berkeley A 14-0, Vanderbilt 13-1, and UC-Davis 11-3. In addition, three teams were tied for fourth place: UCLA, BYU, and Stanford. For unknown reasons, someone decided that the top four teams needed to play a single elimination playoff. It took a half an hour before Stanford decided how to break the tie for fourth place: UCLA, BYU, and Stanford would play simultaneously in a three-team game, with the winner advancing. BYU won the three-team game (with a score of approximately BYU 195, UCLA 140, and Stanford 135). Finally, Berkeley A, Vanderbilt, UC-Davis, and BYU played a single-elimination playoff. Berkeley and Vanderbilt advanced to a final, which Vanderbilt won on the last question. The final question was, appropriately, a repeat: the third occurence of Ibsen in the tournament.
The leading scorers were David Farris from Edison High School (47.5 PPG), Pat Friel from UCLA (40.4), and Norm Gillespie from BYU (38.9). Vanderbilt's leading scorer was "Grunties," with 33.6 PPG.