Announcing NHSEB’s 2022-2023 Divisional Playoff Matchups
Due to the National High School Ethics Bowl’s prodigious growth across the country, the NHSEB Executive Committee has designed a new Divisional Playoff system to replace NHSEB’s previous Regional Playoffs. Starting in 2022-2023, the country’s existing Regional Competitions will 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 2023 National Championship.
In early 2023, 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 2023 NHSEB National Championship at UNC-Chapel Hill. Teams will be seated for the 2023 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 second-place Divisional Playoff teams in the two largest Divisional events (in terms of their number of participating schools). The second place finisher for each Division will be the team with the smallest point differential in their head-to-head match. Divisional matchups for 2022-2023 are as follows, and a downloadable schematic of matchups is available here.
Southeastern Division: February 15-17, 2023
Matchup 1 (February 15, 4PM ET)
North Carolina vs. South Carolina
Matchup 2 (February 15, 6PM ET)
Tennessee vs. West Tennessee
Matchup 3 (February 16, 4PM ET)
West Georgia vs. Alabama
Matchup 4 (February 16, 6PM ET)
First Coast vs. Tampa Bay
Matchup 5 (February 17, 4PM ET)
Palm Beach County vs. Louisiana
Matchup 6 (February 17, 6PM ET)
Virginia vs. Washington, DC
Northeastern Division: February 7-14, 2023
Matchup 1 (February 7, 6:30PM ET)
Philadelphia vs. Delaware Valley
Matchup 2 (February 7, 6:30PM ET)
New York vs. Long Island
Matchup 3 (February 7, 8PM ET)
Westchester County vs. NHSEBBridge @ Gravitas
Matchup 4 (February 7, 8PM ET)
Connecticut vs. Rhode Island
Matchup 5 (February 14, 6:30PM ET)
Cincinnati vs. Maryland
Matchup 6 (February 14, 8PM ET)
New England vs. New Hampshire
Central Division: February 14-15, 2023
Matchup 1 (February 14, 2 PM ET/1PM CT)
Indiana vs. Missouri
Matchup 2 (February 14, 2:30 PM CT)
Chicago vs. Southern Illinois
Matchup 3 (February 14, 4:00 PM CT)
Arkansas vs. Minnesota
Matchup 4 (February 15, 2 PM ET)
Ohio vs. Michigan
Matchup 5 (February 15, 2:30 PM CT)
Iowa vs. Nebraska
Matchup 6 (February 15, 4:00 CT)
UT Tyler vs. Houston
Western Division: February 18, 2023
Matchup 1 (February 18, 9AM PT)
Northern California vs. Southern California
Matchup 2 (February 18, 9AM PT)
Utah vs. Oregon
Matchup 3 (February 18, 11AM PT)
Nevada vs. Arizona
Matchup 4 (February 18, 11AM PT)
Oklahoma vs. Colorado
NHSEB Divisional Playoffs will be conducted online, using the Parr Center’s NHSEBOne competition platform and the 2022-2023 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 2022-2023 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.