National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC is a question-writing and quiz bowl tournament-organizing company founded by former players in 1996. It is unique among U.S. quiz organizations for supplying questions and hosting championships at the middle school, high school, and college levels. NAQT operates out of Shawnee, Kansas and Minneapolis–Saint Paul.
The company mostly writes practice questions and questions for high school and middle school invitational tournaments, as well as for some game shows. Its involvement in college quiz bowl is mostly restricted to sectional tournaments and the Intercollegiate Championship Tournament.
Rules NAQT's rules are similar to those of other quiz bowl tournaments. These are about qualification, packets, and gameplay.
Qualification To qualify for the MSNCT or HSNCT, a team from a school must place in the top 20% of a tournament, rounded up. SSNCT has the same requirement, however only Small Schools (500≤ students in the top 3 grades) are considered. A school can get more teams also depending on pool size. The events which you must qualify at must be organized and accepted and using NAQT packets. Qualifying once in multiple tournaments does not yield multiple invitations. To receive multiple invitations, a school must meet the requirements on multiple teams at the same tournament (usually labeled SCHOOLNAME A, B, C, etc.)
Packets NAQT creates their own packets for tournaments along for studying, such as specific subject, lightning rounds, Thumbs Up! and more. They consist of 24 tossups and 24 bonuses. For certain packets, tossups and bonuses are on the same page, but for HSNCT, MSNCT, and SSNCT, the tossups and bonuses are on separate pages. They consist of clues that become easier and end in 'For 10 points'. They will also provide pronunciation on certain words and provide what to accept, prompt, or say is incorrect.
Gameplay The rules about negs and powers are that negs give -5, but if another team interrupts and gets it wrong, it is a 0. Correct answers before the power mark, or (*), give 15 points. Protests can be made at timeouts, halftime, or the end of the game. If a player answers incorrectly, their team is locked for the tossup. Bounce-backs are not allowed in NAQT tournaments, but may be used in tournaments using NAQT questions. Timeouts can be called at the very beginning of any tossup, but a team is limited to 1 tossup per match. A score-check is allowed during the timeouts and halftime.
At the college level
The ICT is divided into divisions, unlike ACF Nationals, so that a clear undergraduate champion is determined (all formats allow graduate students to compete in some form).
Collegiate divisions
Division I Overall NAQT's eligibility rules state that any student taking at least three credit hours towards a degree at a university may compete on that university's team, and indeed may not compete independently if such a team exists. If no program exists at their university's campus, they may compete on the team for another campus of the same university, with the provision that they must leave that team should their home campus organize a program.
If any member of the team has an undergraduate degree, the team competes in the Division I competition, and is only eligible for the open championship (i.e. the overall championship).
Division I Undergraduate At Sectional Championship Tournaments (SCTs) and the Intercollegiate Championship Tournament (ICT), teams that do not meet the Division II requirements play together. However, awards are given, including bids to the ICT, for the top undergraduate team. A team is eligible for the undergraduate championship if all members of the team are undergraduate students, and none of them have played in four years of NAQT collegiate competition prior to the current year. The undergraduate championship was first awarded in 1998.
Division II Also introduced in 1998, Division II is intended to give first- and second-year students an opportunity to compete against other players and teams of the same level of experience. The rules of Division II eligibility are that one must be eligible for DI Undergraduate (i.e. no degree, and less than four years of experience), and in no year prior qualified for or participated in ICT.
Exceptions to the eligibility rules have been granted to deal with special circumstances in past years; however, as they are controversial when they occur, they do not occur often.
Community colleges Two-year colleges usually compete in separate SCTs each February (it is permitted, but rare, for teams from these schools to compete in DI). Eight teams qualify for the Division II ICT, where they compete alongside other DII teams in a manner analogous to that of DI Undergraduate teams. However, students at two-year colleges are exempt from the DII eligibility restrictions. In fact, they have three years of eligibility at the DII level.
Winners of NAQT Intercollegiate Championship Tournament Year Host / Location Division I Overall Division I Undergraduate Division II Overall Division II Community College 1997 Penn Chicago 1998 Vanderbilt Stanford Swarthmore Harvard 1999 Michigan Chicago Carleton Princeton 2000 Boston U Illinois Princeton Harvard 2001 WUSTL Chicago Princeton Pittsburgh 2002 North Carolina Michigan Princeton Yale Valencia CC 2003 UCLA and Caltech Chicago Harvard California Valencia CC 2004 WUSTL California Illinois UCLA Valencia CC 2005 Tulane Michigan VCU Chicago Faulkner St CC 2006 Maryland California Williams College Stanford Broward CC 2007 Minnesota Chicago Carleton Maryland Valencia CC 2008 WUSTL Maryland Harvard Carleton Valencia CC 2009 Dallas, Texas Chicago Minnesota Chicago Northeast Alabama CC 2010 Chicago, Illinois Chicago Minnesota Brown St. Charles CC 2011 Chicago, Illinois Minnesota VCU Yale Chipola 2012 Chicago, Illinois Virginia Ohio State Harvard Chipola 2013 Chicago, Illinois Yale Ohio State Stanford Chipola 2014 Chicago, Illinois Virginia Yale Harvard Valencia CC 2015 Atlanta, Georgia Virginia Maryland Texas State College-Manatee 2016 Chicago, Illinois Chicago California Chicago Jefferson 2017 Chicago, Illinois Michigan Oklahoma California Chipola 2018 Chicago, Illinois Yale California Chicago Chipola 2019 Chicago, Illinois Yale Michigan State Maryland De Anza2020CanceledN/AN/AN/AValencia CC2021OnlineColumbiaBrownVanderbiltJefferson2022Chicago, IllinoisStanfordGeorgia TechYaleInver Hills CC2023Chicago, IllinoisCornellBrownWaterlooTallahassee CC2024Chicago, IllinoisChicagoWUSTLWaterlooChipola2025Chicago, IllinoisChicagoCornellHarvardChipola2026Chicago, IllinoisCaliforniaVirginia TechColumbiaChipola Notes
At the high school level Teams qualify to the High School National Championship Tournament through a variety of methods. Most commonly, a team qualifies by finishing in the top 15% of the field at a tournament that uses NAQT questions. If a school wants to send more than one team to nationals, the school must qualify all said teams at the same time during a single tournament.
The small school award is given to a public school with a non-selective admissions policy and less than 500 students in grades 10 through 12. Up until and including 2013, the small school champion was decided on a playoff between top finishing teams at the High School National Championship Tournament. Since 2014, a separate national championship tournament has been held for small schools.
Winners of NAQT High School National Championship Tournament The winners of the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament: Year Location Champion 2nd 3rd Small school 1999 Norman, Oklahoma Detroit Catholic Central Walton Brookwood A 2000 Atlanta, Georgia State College A Maggie Walker A Eleanor Roosevelt 2001 Ann Arbor, Michigan Detroit Catholic Central Detroit Country Day State College A 2002 Austin, Texas St. John's School Irmo Detroit Catholic Central Kent City 2003 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Thomas Jefferson A Dorman A St. John's Cutter–Morning Star 2004 Houston, Texas Thomas Jefferson A Maggie Walker St. John's A Cutter–Morning Star 2005 Chicago, Illinois Thomas Jefferson A Lakeside State College A Danville 2006 Chicago, Illinois Richard Montgomery State College A Maggie Walker A Danville 2007 Chicago, Illinois Maggie Walker A State College A Thomas Jefferson A Danville 2008 Chicago, Illinois Thomas Jefferson A Charter School of Wilmington A Walt Whitman A Russell 2009 Chicago, Illinois Charter School of Wilmington A Dorman A State College A Ottawa Hills 2010 Chicago, Illinois Maggie Walker State College A LASA A South Range 2011 Atlanta, Georgia State College A LASA A Bellarmine George Mason 2012 Atlanta, Georgia Bellarmine A Detroit Catholic Central A LASA A Beachwood 2013 Atlanta, Georgia LASA A Ladue A Loyola Macomb 2014 Chicago, Illinois LASA A St. John's A LASA B Hallsville 2015 Chicago, Illinois Arcadia A LASA A Detroit Catholic Central A Harmony Science North Austin 2016 Dallas, Texas Hunter A Thomas Jefferson A Detroit Catholic Central A Advanced Math & Science 2017 Atlanta, Georgia Hunter A Detroit Catholic Central A Naperville North Glasgow and St. Mark's 2018 Atlanta, Georgia Plano West A Hunter A LASA A Glasgow and Early College at Guilford 2019 Atlanta, Georgia Beavercreek University Lab Chattahoochee A Glasgow and Miami Valley2020CanceledN/AN/AN/AN/A2021OnlineBarringtonUniversity LabDetroit Country DayWestmont and St. Mark's2022Atlanta, GeorgiaDetroit Catholic Central AHunter AEast Chapel Hill AGlasgow and St. Mark's2023Atlanta, GeorgiaBarrington ABuffalo GroveDetroit Country Day AFair Grove and BASIS McLean2024Atlanta, GeorgiaBarrington ASt. Mark'sLivingston AHastings and St. Mark's2025Atlanta, GeorgiaLivingston ANorthviewWade HamptonWest Point and St. Mark's2026Atlanta, GeorgiaStevenson ALexington AStrake Jesuit ARussell and Park Tudor
At the middle school level In the 2010–2011 academic year, NAQT introduced a program for middle school. A corresponding middle school national championship, called the MSNCT, was held in 2011 in Chicago.
MSNCT is primarily held at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois.
Winners of NAQT Middle School National Championship Tournament Year Location Champion 2nd 3rd 2011 Chicago, Illinois Kealing A Barrington-Station A Longfellow 2012 Chicago, Illinois Kealing A Longfellow A Westminster A 2013 Chicago, Illinois Barrington-Station A Kealing A Mesa Verde 2014 Atlanta, Georgia Harmony Excellence-Houston St. Mark's Trickum 2015 Dallas, Texas Kealing A T. H. Rogers A River Trail A 2016 Atlanta, GeorgiaMiddlesex A Longfellow A Challenger-Ardenwood 2017 Dallas, Texas Aptakisic Mounds Park Middlesex A 2018 Chicago, Illinois Pi-oneers BASIS Silicon Valley A Longfellow A 2019 Chicago, Illinois Hunter A Churchill A Hopkins 2020 Canceled N/A N/A N/A 2021 Online Churchill A Longfellow A Burleigh Manor A 2022 Chicago, Illinois Longfellow A Chenery Greenhill A 2023 Chicago, Illinois Chenery River Trail A Cooper A 2024 Chicago, Illinois River Trail A Sycamore A Hopkins A 2025 Chicago, Illinois Smith A Coppell West Meyzeek A 2026 Chicago, Illinois St. Mark's A Riverwatch A Challenger-Strawberry Park Notes
Jeopardy! Various NAQT employees and former NAQT players have appeared on the game show Jeopardy! Over 30 NAQT players or employees have participated on the show, including 17 who qualified for the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, including two finalists, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings. Jennings writes questions and edits the literature and mythology categories for NAQT. Due to the success of these players, adults trying out must now declare any affiliation to NAQT or quizbowl on their information sheet. (See Jeopardy! audition process for further discussion.)