2022-23 USQ Gameplay Update: Regionals Assignments & Bid Allocation

Regionals Event Updates

Northeast Regional Update: Thanks to tremendous assistance from collegiate and club team leaders, USQ is able to host a joint Northeast Regional Championship this season. The event will be run by veteran tournament director Amanda Dallas and USQ Gameplay Manager/Northeast Regional Coordinator Christian Barnes. Onsite, they will be supported by USQ Gameplay Coordinator Joshua Cohen and USQ Referee Coordinator Christopher LeCompte for gameplay and officials related items. The gameplay department will create the schedule, similar to other regionals, and virtual support, equipment rental, and volunteer assignments will be supported by USQ’s Events Department. This event will only have a collegiate division.

The 2022 Northeast Regional Championship will take place at East Boston Memorial Stadium on November 5 and November 6, 2022. This regional championship will follow the same deadlines as other regional championship events.

A special thank you to Ethan Sturm, Harry Greenhouse, Alyssa Giarrosso, Amanda Dallas, and Nik Jablonski for coordinating the facility and providing additional volunteer recruitment and livestream equipment. 

Bid Allocation

As outlined in September’s gameplay update, USQ Gameplay has assigned regional championship tournaments to collegiate and club teams, as well as allocated nationals bids to each tournament based on the number of teams attending. A list of teams assigned to each regional can be found further down this article.

Similar to previous seasons, collegiate qualification for the competitive divisions at nationals relies more on bids earned at regional championships, with a smaller number of at-large bids available later in the season. Club competitive qualification relies more heavily on at-large bids, while a smaller number of bids are still available to be earned at regional championships.

Collegiate Division

This season, for greater ease of scheduling within tournaments, collegiate teams are generally limited to attending one regional. However, the USQ Gameplay team has prioritized ensuring there are enough teams at each tournament to provide a valuable set of games for attending teams, and as such planned and made use of an exception that allows teams to attend an additional regional to help meet the minimum number of teams required to hold an event. These exceptions were determined in conjunction with team preferences, where teams ranked lower-demand regional championships when they registered for the season. Follow up conversations with teams were conducted over the first two weeks of October.

Based on the number of teams attending each collegiate regional and using the allocation method described on the 2022-23 season gameplay requirements tab here, nationals bids have been distributed as follows:

In total, 18 Division 1 bids will be awarded throughout regionals. The remaining six Division 1 bids will be distributed through the at-large system after March 12, 2023. Teams who have earned a Division 2 bid at regionals remain eligible to apply for at-large entry to Division 1. A total of 12 Division 2 bids will be awarded throughout regionals. The remaining 4 Division 2 bids, as well as any additional Division 2 bids left by teams moving up to Division 1 through at-large, will also be distributed through the same at-large system in March.

As a reminder, collegiate nationals will comprise three divisions: Division 1 (24 teams), Division 2 (16 teams), and Open (currently uncapped). Read more about this here.

Club Division

Nationals bids will be allocated to club regional championships on a rolling schedule, based on the number of club teams registered for the regional 1 week ahead of the event. Regionals with fewer than 8 teams will award one nationals bid, and those with eight or more will award two. The minimum number of club teams required to host a regional is four. There will be no club regional event at Midwest or Northeast regional championships.

Based on the number of teams currently assigned to each regional, seven bids would be distributed as follows:

Club teams can continue to sign up to attend additional regional tournaments, and the above numbers may change accordingly throughout the season. The actual number of bids available at each regional will update based on registration until the 1 week ahead allocation cutoff for each event. Any remaining bids will be distributed through the at-large system after March 12, 2023, for a total of 20 teams. Club nationals will comprise two divisions: Club competitive (20 teams) and Club lower (currently uncapped).

Collegiate Regional Championship Assignments

Great Lakes

1. Illini Ridgebacks

2. Blue Jay

3. Columbia College Chicago Renegades

4. Michigan Quadball Team

5. Purdue Boilermakers

6. Michigan State Quadball

7. Miami Marauders

8. Quadball Club of Pittsburgh

9. Bowling Green State University

10. Ball State Cardinals

11. Grand Valley

12. Creighton

Northeast

1. Brandeis Judges

2. Boston University Quadball

3. Rutgers University

4. University of Rochester

5. Middlebury College Quadball

6. Harvard Horntails

7. RPI

8. Emerson College Quadball

9. Brown Bears Quadball

10. Tufts University Tufflepuffs

11. UVM

12. NYC College Quadball

Midwest

1. Minnesota Quadball

2. Mizzou Club Quadball

3. Marquette University Golden Avalanche

4. Kansas Quadball

5. Saluki Quadball

6. Creighton QC*

7. Blue Jay QC*

*At the time of regional assignments, only three teams were signed up to attend Midwest regionals, which is below the minimum regional requirement. Based on the regional assignment guidelines, all Great Lakes teams were asked to consider attending an additional regional to allow the Midwest teams who could not attend Great Lakes to have an event. Of the 12 teams polled, only Creighton and Blue Jay were able to attend. Saluki Quadball and Kansas Quadball signed up well after the deadline and were granted an exemption to still compete in this regional. 

Mid-Atlantic

1. Virginia Quadball

2. Penn State Quadball

3. UNC-Chapel Hill Quadball Club

4. Salisbury University Quadball

5. University of Florida Club Quadball**

6. Virginia Reunited**

**At the time of regional assignments, only four teams were signed up to attend Mid-Atlantic regionals, which is below the minimum regional requirement. Based on the regional assignment guidelines, all South regional teams were asked to consider attending an additional regional to allow the Mid-Atlantic teams who could not attend South regionals to have an event. Of the five teams polled, University of Florida and Virginia Reunited were able to attend.

South

1. Nearly Headless Knights

2. Florida State

3. FGCU Quadball

4. University of Florida Club Quadball

5. Virginia Reunited

6. UNC-Chapel Hill Quadball Club**

**At the time of regional assignments, only four teams were signed up to attend South regionals, which is below the minimum regional requirement. Based on the regional assignment guidelines, Mid-Atlantic teams were asked to consider attending an additional regional to allow the event to occur. Of the four teams polled, UNC-Chapel Hill Quadball Club agreed to attend an additional regional. Virginia Reunited signed up well after the deadline and were granted an exemption to still compete in this regional. 

West

1. Arizona State University

2. CalQuadball

3. Narwhals

4. UCLA

5. UNCO Club Quadball

6. University of Utah Quadball

Southwest

1. Baylor Club Quadball

2. Texas Quadball

3. UTSA Club Quadball

4. SHSU Bearkats

5. Texas State Quadball

Club Regional Championship Assignments (updated 10/21/22)*

*Note that club teams can still sign up for additional regionals

Great Lakes

1. Black Swamp Banshees

2. Boom Train

3. Chicago United Quadball

4. Ohio Apollos

Mid-Atlantic

1. Earth Wake

2. Philadelphia Freedom

3. District of Columbia Quadball Club

4. Washington Monuments

5. New York Slice

6. Atlantic Dragons

7. Carnage QC

South

1. Bosnyan Bearsharks

2. Boston Black Pandas

3. Boston Red Pandas

4. Carnage QC

5. Category 5 Quadball Club

6. Skyline Q.C.

7. Terminus Atlanta

8. The Warriors

9. Earth Wake

10. Philadelphia Freedom

West

1. Anteaters Forever

2. Bay Area Breakers

3. Mile High Quidditch Club

4. Prickly Pear Quadball

5. Salt Lake City Hive

6. Seattle

7. Silicon Valley Vipers

8. The Lost Boys Quadball Club

9. Twin Cities Quadball Club

Southwest

1. Texas Cavalry

2. Southwest Alliance

3. Pegasus Quadball Club

4. Texas Hill Country Heat

5. Gulf Coast Gumbeaux

Standings Update

Standings are now available for the current season here.  Gameplay has made updates to the standings formula this season, including adjusting for the new flag value of 35 throughout the formula.  Previously, flag snags made by winning teams while the game was within range (quaffle point differential less than 35) gave teams a “when it matters” bonus in the standings, with a diminished bonus for still catching while out of range.  The “when it matters” bonus is still in place for teams catching to win while in range.  But additionally, now, that diminished bonus is available to any team who catches, regardless of win or loss.  With the end of game determined by set score, catching always benefits a team by bringing them closer to the set score.

A full explanation of the USQ Standings Algorithm is available here.

For questions about bid allocation, regional assignments and standings, please contact gameplay@usquadball.org.