academic buzzer team

what’s quizbowl?

We’re the University of Illinois Academic Buzzer Team. We participate in tournaments of quizbowl, a competition between two teams in which players answer academic questions in categories such as the fine arts, history, literature, science, and social science.

“Regular” questions are called tossups, and they are written with many clues, with harder clues preceding easier clues in what is called pyramidal structure. This way, players with deeper knowledge of a subject can give correct answers earlier, rewarding extensive knowledge. A team that answers a tossup correctly is given a bonus, a set of (usually) three related questions that only the controlling team may answer.

If this sounds interesting to you, come join us at our practices, or contact us if you want more information.