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The questions used are written by the University of Maryland (College Park) Academic Quiz Team for their Fall Classic Tournament on November 23 among 64 high school teams from around the greater Baltimore/Washington DC area. We use these questions with their express permission and our unending gratitude. Heck, we paid for them.
The game format used is the Washington/Baltimore television high school show "It's Academic." It is similar to the Cleveland high school show "Academic Challenge," with many of the questions used by both competitions written by almost the same authors. In fact, the Altmans produce both shows on WBAL, WRC, and WEWS in Baltimore, Washington, and Cleveland respectively.
As of the first broadcast on December 1, 1996, WEWS-TV has changed the format of "Academic Challenge" to be more similar to "It's Academic." In fact, they renamed the show "It's Academic" and changed sponsors (from Ohio Edison and Centerior "Cleveland Illuminating" to the Ohio Lottery).
As a result, the electronic "Press Your Luck" board is gone, and they use the same cheesy introduction brass lead as they do in Washington DC. They even have the cheerleaders and the band from one of the participating schools playing during the commercial breaks, like in Washington, although rumor has it that the cheerleaders won't be able to "perform" during the commercial breaks. After two years drawing the semifinal matches as 1-2-3, 4-5-6, and 7-8-9, the producers in Cleveland finally got their acts together and drew the semifinal matches appropriately (1-4-7, 2-5-8, 3-6-9). But it's still not like DC/Baltimore, where they single-eliminate 81 schools. Eleanor Roosevelt High School's It's Academic Team monitors the DC-area finals.
Here is how "Buzzerpalooza" will be played:
On the television show, three teams of three persons compete simultaneously. For this tournament (and at Maryland's) only two teams of four persons will compete in head-to-head matches.
We will use the same scoring system as they do on television, except that we will not begin all teams' scores at 100 points. We'll start everyone off at zero and go from there.
The opening round will involve buzzers for both teams to answer. In the past, only the team buzzing in gets a chance to answer the question for 10 points; if the person misses or passes, the team score is reduced by 10 points.
On the television show, consultation is allowed because the buzzer systems do not distinguish the person buzzing in first. However, we will NOT allow for consultation as most competitions on a national level disallow consulation on questions requiring buzzers.
The questions will all be related as their answers will begin (or should begin) with a specific letter or letters of the alphabet.
After the first volleys of the Opening Round, a set of team questions will be given exclusively to one or the other team. Handouts will be provided which will give clues or supplemental information upon which the questions are based.
Each correct answer is worth 20 points to the team with the right to respond. Any incorrect answers or passes will not result in a score deduction or in giving the opposing team the opportunity to steal. We may change this for our own purposes however...
As there are two sets of handouts, the team that is behind will get the opportunity to receive either the first or the second set of handouts.
The third set of questions are all related to a particular category. Each answer is worth 10 points, with deductions for incorrect answers in effect. Buzzers are again required for this round.
This differs from "It's Academic" as both shows have "visual rounds" at this time.
Each team will now receive a second set of team questions. The order of receipt is reverse of that in the Team Handout Round.
There are eight random questions given to each team. A correct answer is worth 20 points, with no deductions for misses or passes. However, if a team gets all eight questions correct, an additional 25 point bonus will be awarded.
The final round will consist of buzzer questions asked to both teams simultaneously. Correct answers are worth 20 points, but 20 points are deducted for misses or passes. Unlike the TV shows, we will have a set number of grab bag rounds, and all questions will be asked regardless of "time remaining." Also, only on TV are there visual questions worth 30 points if you're right, negative-30 if you're not.
If you're confused, perhaps looking at
a
sample game (from Maryland's page) will help.
The tournament format is arranged to guarantee all teams a
minimum of five games, depending on the number of teams that
compete. All teams will compete in the morning preliminary
sessions. The top 12 teams will then advance into the
quarterfinal rounds in the afternoon, where they will be
arranged into two divisions and play round-robin. The top two
teams in each division advance to the rest of the playoffs in
single-elimination matches.
If having 36 teams is not meant to be, the following criteria will determine which teams advance to the quarterfinal rounds:
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