South Carolina

This article describes the quizbowl team at the University of South Carolina. For high school quizbowl in the state of South Carolina, see NAQT South Carolina State Championship.

This article is about the team at the University of South Carolina. See USC for the page about the team at the University of Southern California.

University of South Carolina
Location: Columbia, SC
Current President or Coach	Robert Harden
National championships	none
NAQT Page	link

The University of South Carolina (or U of SC, but not USC) is a public university located in Columbia, South Carolina. Their quiz bowl team has played and hosted tournaments for many years.

History

The University of South Carolina Academic Team has attended tournaments of all types during each quizbowl season since 1994-95. The team was founded by Tom Waters, who won some tournaments during his tenure and instructed several of the early players who became great players in their own right (notably, T.C. Ford and Vernon Davenport). The “Golden Age” of the team was from 1996-2000, during which time the team, led by Waters and later by the incomparable T.C. Ford and his pupils, won several tournaments. In the post-Ford era, the team has enjoyed decent regional success. The team has competed at most ACF events (including several nationals), as well as several NAQT Sectionals. The team ceased playing in CBI tournaments in 2001. The team usually plays in ACF, mACF, and NAQT tournaments in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, with occasional out of region trips.

The team is unofficially sponsored by Cracker Barrel restaurants and Vault.

Former Players

• Phil Stone
• Adam Humphreys
• Daniel Jones
• Martin Sheehan
• Eric Douglass
• Darrah Densmore
• J.R. Fennell
• David James
• Patrick McCullough
• Erick Bousman
• Felicia Sailey
• Joe Stanton
• Bryn Reinecke
• Jarrett Edwards
• Will Bolin
• Joey Montoya
• Katie Baehler
• Robert Harden
• Hudson Harper
• Yujing Zhao
• Alyssa Hesse
• Brian Huxhold
• Preston Floyd

Tournament Wins

• 1995–1996: Wahoo War of the Minds (Virginia)
• 1996–1997: University of Florida Tournament, Tarheel Cup (North Carolina), Emory Junior Bird, Dork Bowl (Vanderbilt)
• 1997–1998: CBI Region 5 Championship
• 1998–1999: SNEWT (Swarthmore), Gamecock Junior Bird (South Carolina), Sword Bowl (UTC), ACF Regionals (Georgia Tech)
• 1999–2000: Heinrich Bowl (Georgia Tech), NAQT Undergrad Sectional Title (Virginia), ACF Regionals (UTC)
• 2000–2001: Sword Bowl (UTC)
• 2001–2002: Sword Bowl (UTC)
• 2002–2003: Juan Carlos Viscera (GW), Sunshine State Invitational (Florida)
• 2003–2004: March Madness (Duke)
• 2004–2005: MLK (Georgia Tech)
• 2008–2009: ACF Fall (Florida), ACF Winter (Georgia), Penn Bowl Mirror (Georgia Tech), ACF Regionals (Georgia Tech), Moon Pie (UTC)
• 2010–2011: Early Fall Tournament (Georgia Tech)

College Tournaments Hosted

• USC Spring Invitational 1998 (won by Kentucky)
• Gamecock Juniorbird 1998 (won by South Carolina)
• Gamecock Invitational 1999 (won by Virginia Tech)
• MASER Juniorbird 2003 (won by Duke)
• FEUERBACH Mirror 2008 (won by Clemson)

High School Tournaments Hosted

• USC Spring Tournament 2009 (won by Southside A)

Title succession

Unofficial title succession

ACF Nationals Undergraduate Champion
Preceded by	Year	Succeeded by
Maryland	1998	Texas