General Information & History

Quiz Bowl has a distinguished history at Davidson.  The key to our success is a strong intramural tournament organized each year by the College Union and the Residence Life Office. Sign ups for the tournament usually begin in early October, with the tournament beginning in late October.  In a typical year, between 100 and 150 students play in the campus tournament, competing for fun and a chance to represent Davidson on our varsity team.   We believe that no other school in the country has a higher percentage of its student body participating in quiz bowl.  Faculty, staff, alumni,  and members of the Davidson community also participate as moderators, scorekeepers, and fans.
 
The campus tournament is open to every Davidson student.  Teams represent fraternities, student organizations, residence halls, and groups of friends.  Selection to the Davidson varsity squad is determined by quickness of mind, breadth of knowledge, and sportsmanship, as displayed in the tournament. Click here to learn more about the 2009-2010 Intramural Tournament.
 
The first Davidson team to achieve intercollegiate success was the 1969 squad, coached by professor Charlie Lloyd and featuring the inimitable Robert Bryan ‘70.  That team retired undefeated after a five-week run on the GE College Bowl TV program.   Ten years later, the 1979 team, also coached by Mr. Lloyd and made up of captain Tom Ruby ’79, James Gibert ’79, Tim Newcomb ’81, Ed Trumbull ’81, and alternate Sheri Gravett ’81, defeated Harvard on nationally syndicated television to win the College Bowl National Championship.  That team traveled to England later that same year to play for the World Championship against Sidney Sussex College of Cambridge University, the winner of Granada Television’s University Challenge.  Davidson lost by ten points, on the very last question of the game, which was broadcast in the U.K. and the U.S.  Davidson’s 1981 team finished second in the nation in a nationally broadcast radio tournament. 
 
Between 2002 and 2008, Davidson’s College Bowl team won the Association of College Unions International/College Bowl Region 5 tournament twice, earning the right to play for the College Bowl National Championship. Both of those teams ended their seasons in the “Elite Eight.”  The 2004 team finished 8th and freshman  Rob Correll ’07 was named to the national tournament All-Star team.  The 2006 team finished 6th in the nation, though Davidson was by far the smallest school competing and the only one without “University” in its name.   Davidson teams were also Regional Tournament runners-up in 2003, 2005, and 2008. 

The 2008-2009 season was Davidson’s first in National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) competition after ACUI ceased their College Bowl programs. In its first NAQT season, Davidson was able to send two teams to the Sectionals at the University of Georgia. Both did well enough to qualify for the national NAQT tournament in Dallas, TX.  Davidson was one of four colleges and universities that fielded two teams at this year's national Quiz Bowl tournament. The others are Yale, the University of Chicago, and Chipola Community College in Marianna, Fla. (There's a separate community college competition.)  Team A included seniors Francisco Fiallo, Kendra Chapman, Scott Saldana and Zeke Webster. Ranked by won-loss records for the whole tournament, Team A finished fifth with a 10-3 record and 9th in the final bracketed standings.  Team B finished 14th, and its members will be competing in NAQT Division I in future seasons. Click here to read an article about this year's Quiz Bowl Team.

2009 Intramural Quiz Bowl Tournament

The 2009 campus tournament begins October 25, 2009. Click here to learn how to participate in 2009 Intramural Quiz Bowl Tournament, rules of the game, and timeline for the players.

Team Rosters

Click here to see information on past teams and players.

For more information about quiz bowl at Davidson, contact varsity team coach James Gibert or William Brown in the College Union.