from Jason Russel: "Would it ever be possible to unify to determine a true national champion?" Possible, yes. Think of all the nation-wide academic tournaments (DOE Science Bowl. Science Olympiad. Mu Alpha Theta for math. Junior Classical League for Latin). However, quiz bowl is a far more fractured organization than those above. Various colleges and academic question companies host competitions with a multi-state draw. DOE, on the other hand, holds a monopoly of sorts on the title of science bowl champion. Therefore, they can legitimately claim to have determined a national winner. I *never* heard of Chip Beall's competition down at Loyola until Matt mentioned it. That would be more understandable if I weren't a graduate of Baton Rouge High. State quiz bowl in Louisiana is organized rather the same way football is, so far as I can tell. 1st and 2nd place teams at regionals advance to state (hosted by Northwestern State up in Natchitoches). Teams compete in 5 divisions determined by size of school The divisional champs then play each other. The resulting state winner does not then qualify for nationals (an importance distinction from what occurs in DOE). While Texas A&M students who staffed did advertise for their own tournament, I do not recall a single announcements about any tournaments billed as national. To me, the Lousisiana state tournament seems a logical place to advertise for a 'national' tournament in New Orleans. [Although, there is a possibility my coach knew of it but never mentioned it. These tournaments seem rather expensive for teams, like mine, without funding] In short, it seems to me that if you want to declare a legitimate national champion, you must work through existing state organizations.
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