About - PACE NSC Qualification System

The National Scholastic Championship is a high school quiz bowl tournament run by the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence (PACE). This system records eligible tournaments and their results, and tracks which teams have earned a bid to the NSC, whether by performance at a qualifying tournament or through a wild card.

For everything about PACE and the NSC itself (the event, dates, registration, format, and history), visit the official PACE website.

Visit www.pace-nsc.org

How tournaments get here

Tournaments announced on NAQT or hsquizbowl.org are picked up automatically: upcoming events appear here as potential qualifiers, and once a tournament has been played and its statistics are posted, the results are scraped and reviewed by PACE before qualifications are awarded. Events that can't award NSC bids (novice/JV-only, leagues, pop-culture events, and tournaments guaranteeing fewer than 8 games) are filtered out.

Tournament directors: if your tournament isn't listed, log in and submit it with the Add Tournament button. Don't have an account? Contact PACE and we'll set you up or add the tournament for you. If something about a listed tournament is wrong (date, field size, results, which teams qualified), log in to correct it or let PACE know.

Announcing your tournament on NAQT or hsquizbowl.org is the easiest path: those are picked up automatically, so no separate submission is needed.

For teams

Check the Qualification Status page or search for your team to see where you stand. A team qualifies for the NSC by finishing high enough at any listed qualifying tournament, roughly the top 20% of the varsity field earns a bid. The Tournaments page shows both played events and upcoming potential qualifiers, so you can plan which tournaments give your team a chance to qualify.

If your team just missed qualifying, wild card bids are available later in the season. If you believe a result or qualification is recorded incorrectly, let PACE know and it will be corrected.

What the qualification statuses mean

Qualified: The team earned a bid by finishing high enough at a qualifying tournament this season. Roughly the top 20% of the field earns a bid; in a multi-division event the bids go to the top division (20% of the whole field across all divisions, but no more than half of the top division). Qualifying tournaments guarantee at least 8 games and aren't novice/JV events.
Wild Card: The team didn't place high enough for an automatic bid but was awarded one through an approved wild-card application. Wild-card applications open January 1.
Pending: The team has submitted a wild-card application that PACE hasn't decided yet. It becomes Wild Card once approved.
Not Qualified: The team hasn't earned a bid yet this season. It can still qualify at a later tournament or via a wild card. Our records may also be incomplete, so if you believe your team has qualified or is missing, contact PACE and it will be checked.

Statuses reflect the season currently being viewed; a bid earned in a past season doesn't carry into a new one.