Tournament of Champions (debate) - Tournament of Champions Qualifying Tournaments

Tournament of Champions Qualifying Tournaments

In order to qualify to the Tournament of Champions, competitors in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Policy debate, Public Forum Debate, or Student Congress must earn two "bids" at designated qualifying tournaments. "Bids" may be attained by reaching the "bid round" at certain tournaments (for instance, a quarterfinal bid gives bids to the top eight competitors, a finals bid gives bid to the top two competitors), which are given different bid statuses based on the strength, size, and geographic diversity of the tournament. All competitors who have received two bids to the Tournament of Champions may apply using the regular application. Historically, every competitor with at least two bids has been accepted. However, the Tournament of Champions only guarantees that debaters receiving three or more bids will be accepted as it would be mathematically possible for the bid distribution to be so diverse that more debaters with two bids exist than spots available.

In the event that there are fewer than 70 fully qualified entries in an event, the Tournament of Champions then proceeds to admit "at-large applicants." A debater is entitled to consideration as an at-large applicant if he or she has acquired one bid during the season. Following the at-large application process, the TOC Advisory Committee in given the responsibility of ranking the applications, which are then combined to fill the remaining slots for the TOC.