Tie-Breakers, Elims, and Awards

Tie-Breaking Procedures

Seeding for elimination rounds in all divisions will be based on the MBA system: wins, adjusted (high-low) points plus opponent wins, total points, adjusted (double high-low) points, opponent wins, and a coin flip.

We have adopted this tie-breaking procedure because speaker points at our tournament are particularly volatile given the constitution of our judging pool (a mix of student-judges, college judges, and adult judges).

Elimination round brackets will not be broken; entries from the same school may meet in elimination rounds. If this occurs, coaches should inform the tab room of the entry they wish to advance.

Speaker awards in all divisions will be determined based on the standard Tabroom formula: adjusted (high-low) points, adjusted (double high-low) points, total points, opponent wins, judge variance, and a coin flip.

We do not utilize an MPJ system for judge placement in any division. Constraints/conflicts should be entered in Tabroom or communicated to the tournament administrators prior to the tournament.

Elimination Rounds

We will clear up to 16 entries with a winning (4-2 or better) record. If fewer than 16 entries have a winning record, the highest-seeded entries will receive a bye in the octafinals. No entries with a 3-3 record will clear. If more than 16 entries have a winning record, the top 16 will clear, and the entries that "miss on points" will be recognized on Twitter (@woodwarddebate) for their accomplishments.

We know that Woodward is both a competition and a "teaching tournament" for many students, so while we're hosting the prelims on NSDA Campus with Observers, we plan to host at least some of the elimination rounds on a password-and-waiting-room secured Zoom room so eliminated competitors can watch the elims.

Trophies/Awards

Our trophies once again include custom wooden/metal plaques (featuring artwork of Woodward Academy’s historic front gate). It is our hope that these awards will provide tangible recognition of students’ accomplishments that can be proudly displayed in your classrooms or trophy cases.

We will provide awards for entries that reach the quarterfinals and beyond.

An appropriate number of individual speaker awards will also be provided based on the size of each division.

Awards will be mailed to the school after the conclusion of the tournament.