dIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

A New Level of Competition for NHSEB

Due to the National High School Ethics Bowl’s prodigious growth across the country, the NHSEB Executive Committee designed and began implementing a new Divisional Playoff system in 2022-2023 to replace NHSEB’s previous Regional Playoffs. For 2023-2024, the country’s existing Regional Competitions will once again be sorted into four geographic Divisions. Each of these Divisions has been assigned to a host institution responsible for conducting Divisional Playoffs in partnership with the Parr Center in order to set the team roster for the 2025 National Championship.

DIVISIONAL BIDS, FORMAT, AND RULES

In 2024-2025, winners of NHSEB Regional Competitions will be paired for head-to-head, single-elimination Divisional Playoff matches. In the event that a winning team is unavailable for the Divisional Playoff Match as scheduled, the Divisional Organizer will extend an invitation for Divisional Competition to the second-place finisher in the relevant Regional Competition. The winner of each match will be invited to compete at the 2024 NHSEB National Championship at UNC-Chapel Hill. Teams will be seated for the 2024 Divisional Playoffs using a bid system which is responsive to the overall size of each respective Division (in terms of numbers of participating Regional Competitions and participating schools).

These bids will total 46, such that the winners of the head-to-head matchups comprise 22 of the 24 teams on the National Championship Roster. 2 remaining bids to the NHSEB Championship will be held as “wild card” bids by the NHSEB Executive Committee, and awarded to runner-up Divisional Playoff teams in the two largest Divisional events (in terms of their number of participating schools).

NHSEB Divisional Playoffs will be conducted online, using the Parr Center’s NHSEBOne competition platform and the 2024-2025 Regional Case Set. Specific rules have been approved by the NHSEB Executive Committee exclusively for online Divisional Playoff events. They are detailed in full in the NHSEB Rules Manual. Teams may gather in the same physical location for competition, but all students and coaches should join matches from their own device, and follow all stated rules and guidelines during their Divisional Playoff events. Otherwise, all Divisional Playoff events will utilize the same rules and regulations as the National Championship.