Tab Policy

1. Round 1 will be paired randomly.

2. Rounds 2-4 pairings will be power-matched among brackets (e.g., 1-0 teams hit 1-0 teams, 0-1 teams hit 0-1 teams), and power-protected within brackets (e.g., the highest 1-0 hits the lowest 1-0, second highest hits second lowest, etc.). Total team speaker points will be used to rank teams within brackets, with total team speaker ranks used to break ties. If a pull up is necessary to complete a bracket, that pull up will come from the bottom of the next lower bracket and will be paired in based on points and ranks. Should the bottom bracket contain an odd number of teams, the lowest ranked team will be given a bye. A first round bye will be paired into the middle of the 1-0 bracket for round two. The following constraints will be respected, in descending order of priority: a) No team shall be pulled up more than one bracket. b) No two teams shall hit each other more than once during inrounds. c) No team shall be pulled-up more than once. d) No team shall hit the pull-up more than once. e) Teams shall hit teams with the same record. f) No team shall hit another team from the same school during inrounds. g) No team shall have more than 3 gov or 3 opp rounds. h) Teams shall be power-paired on the basis of speaker points.

3. The speaker scale will use increments of quarter points. The speaker scale will be centered on a 25, and no inflation or deflation shall be made due to the debaters’ novice status.

4. Verbal justifications are required for judges who wish to give a score of 26.75 and above or 23.25 and below.

5. Ironpersons will be awarded a separate score for each of their speeches and will receive the average of these two scores for their overall total, and may receive speaker awards. A team which consisted of an ironperson for one round may break if the partner was absent for an excellent reason; other teams which had an ironperson round may not. Debaters who do not take part in all four rounds may not receive speaker awards.

6. Any team that has not registered by the time reg closes on Friday shall receive a loss with speaks of 0 and ranks of 7. They will be paired into the middle of the 0-1 bracket for the second round. For all rounds, after pairings have been read, teams will have fifteen minutes to arrive at their rooms and prepare for the round to begin. Any team that has not arrived within fifteen minutes will be dropped speaks of 0 and ranks of 7. A team that wins by forfeit (or bye) will receive average speaks and ranks.

7. After four rounds, the top eight seeded teams will break to quarterfinals. The 1 seed shall hit the 8 seed, the 2 hits the 7, etc. These brackets will be maintained for the remainder of the break. In determining the rankings of teams for the break, we will use the following order of priority: team record, total team speaks, total team ranks, adjusted total team speaks, adjusted total team ranks, head-to-head performance (if any), opposition strength, coin flip.

8. Sides for outrounds will be determined by the following priorities, in descending order: a) If the two teams debated against each other during inrounds, their sides shall be reversed. b) The team with the fewest number of opportunities to choose sides during outrounds has choice of sides. c) The team that wins a coin flip shall have choice of sides. Teams are allowed to defer choice if they win a coin flip. Deferring choice which will not count as having had choice.

9. Low point wins are not allowed. The winning team must have at least as many speaker points and at most as many ranks as the losing team.

10. Schools will be allowed two discretionary school scratches. Additional tab scratches may be granted to individual teams on a case-by-case basis after justification to the Tab Director.

11. Any disputes about rulings or other matters related to tab should be addressed to the Tab Director, who will have final discretion.