Tournament Details

There will be six preliminary debates. The first two debates will be preset according to a pre-tournament ranking of teams. The remaining preliminary rounds will be paired high-low within brackets. Tiebreakers for seeding and pairing of preliminary rounds: 1) Wins; 2) HL adjusted points + Opp Wins; 3) total points; 4) Double HL adjusted points; 5) Opp wins; 6) HL points; 7) Random number.

Each side will have 8 minutes of preparation time. We will utilize the 8-3-5 format. Students will debate the proposition: “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its funding and/or regulation of elementary and/or secondary education in the United States.” Dan Lingel of Jesuit College Prep in Dallas, TX will serve as tabroom director.

An awards ceremony and elimination rounds beginning with the octafinals will commence on Monday morning. The tournament champion will be designated at the end of the day.

ENTRY

The tournament field will be limited to 64 teams. Each school may enter two teams. Top teams should be designated as such and will be given priority. Admission into the tournament field is provisional upon receipt of entry fees. When considering teams for admission, our overriding goal is to create the most competitive field possible. Two Montgomery Bell Academy teams will compete in the tournament. Attempts to subvert the spirit of the admission process will be rejected. No hybrid teams are allowed, i.e., both members of a debate team must attend the same school. Students should be accompanied by an adult chaperone authorized by the school. The entry fee for a two-person debate team is $210. Checks should be made payable to Montgomery Bell Academy. Entry and judging fees will be assessed as of December 1 and are non-refundable after this date.

CASELIST/DISCLOSURE/SCOUTING

In the spirit of the elite-caliber competition of the Southern Bell Forum, we expect teams to have updated caselist wikis available online. Additionally, we expect teams to adhere to established community disclosure norms. All debates are open to the public. MBA students will serve as tournament scouts. All the scouting information they generate will be made available to all tournament participants.

AWARDS

Once again, this year’s trophies will be handsome custom-made awards designed especially for the Southern Bell Forum by Jamie Wilkes Trophies of Winston-Salem, NC. Awards will begin with octafinals, and distinctive speaker awards will be presented to the top debaters.

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS QUALIFIER

The Southern Bell Forum is designated as a qualifying tournament for the Tournament of Champions sponsored by the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky has further designated the Southern Bell Forum as one of the select tournaments where octafinalists will achieve qualifying bids.