Tournament Procedures

Tournament Procedures

Updated: 2/13/2023

Based on number of entries and judging constraints, the debate tournament will consist of four preliminary rounds that will determine seeding for any additional elimination rounds held to determine the tournament champion. The number of elimination rounds will be determined by the number of entries. In prior tournaments we have had enough entries to warrant a Semi-Final and Final round.

Pairings for the preliminary rounds will be announced after tournament check-in. In preliminary rounds, teams alternate between arguing the Affirmative side in some rounds and the Opposition side in other rounds, depending on random assignment or power matching procedures. Assuming four preliminary rounds, each team can expect to debate each side of the topic twice.

Based on the results of the preliminary rounds, seeding of the elimination rounds will be determined by (1) Win-Loss Record; (2) Total Points (3) OPP Wins (4) H/L Points (5) Judge Z Score (6) coin flip.

For elimination rounds, a coin toss will determine side assignments unless teams have debated earlier in the tournament in which case their sides will switch. Brackets will not be broken in the case that two teams from the same school are paired to meet in the elimination round—the higher seed will automatically advance.

Use of Evidence and Academic Integrity: Debaters are expected to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity. Upon request, debaters must be prepared to provide full citations for all evidence read in a round. Debaters may request to see the evidence of opposing teams. If a judge determines that a team has falsified or misused evidence, the team loses the round. To maintain competitive integrity, during the course of the round debaters should not consult with others or with outside sources of information not prepared prior to the debate.