A note on the Tournaments section - 2/17/12

Yale Student Academic Competitions (YSAC), Yale's quiz bowl team, practices every Monday and Wednesday in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, Room 104. Practices generally last from 9:00 to 11:00 PM, and newcomers are always welcome to attend.

Practices are like Jeopardy! in some respects, with players using a buzzer system to ring and answer questions on a wide range of academic and pop culture-related topics. Quiz bowl questions tend to cover subjects in more depth, however, and thankfully do not require you to phrase your response in the form of a question.

For several years, Yale lacked a quiz bowl team on the intercollegiate level. Starting in 1994, Yale resumed competing in tournaments at other schools, and we now regularly attend several events each semester. In recent years, YSAC has established itself as one of the stronger teams on the quiz bowl circuit. Yale's A team took the Northeast NAQT Sectional Championships in 2010 and 2012, and has won ACF Regionals for the Northeast every year since 2010. Yale took home the Division II championship again from the NAQT Intercollegiate Championship Tournametn in Chicago in 2011, and has taken 1st place at the prestigious ACF Nationals competition twice in a row, in 2011 and 2012. Regardless, YSAC sends multiple teams to each tournament whenever it can, including teams that play just for fun.

In addition to attending tournaments, YSAC also hosts several events on both the college and high school level, most notably the Fall Academic Tournament for Connecticut-area high schools and the Bulldog High School Academic Tournament, one of the most prestigious high school quiz bowl events in the country.

YSAC is a great organization for both the die-hard trivia buff and people with a more casual interest in "useless" knowledge. No previous quiz bowl experience is required to join. (In fact some of our best players never picked up a buzzer until college!) Drop by one of our practices for more information!

updated May 29, 2012