Attendance at a National Qualifying Tournament (NQT) is mandatory in order to be considered for advancement to the NCT.
Six NQTs will be held the same weekend, February 22-23, 2025.
Each NQT will have 1 or more divisions of 5 teams each. Each division will play 10 round robin games with each team playing all competitors in their division (4 games each).
2025 NQTs are:
| Saturday, February 22 |
Dillard - New Orleans, LA |
| Saturday, February 22 |
North Carolina A&T - Greensboro, NC |
| Saturday, February 22 |
Prairie View A&M - Houston, TX |
| Saturday, February 22 |
Virginia State - Petersburg, VA |
| Saturday, February 22 |
Univ. Maryland Eastern Shore - Princess Anne, MD |
| Sunday, February 23 |
Alabama State - Montgomery, AL |
Teams will be randomly drawn for placement into divisions at the on-site team meeting:
5-team tournaments will play in a single division in 1 room.
10-team tournaments will have 2 divisions playing in 2 rooms simultaneously.
The top 4 teams at each tournament compete in a single-elimination playoff.
"B-Team" slots are not available at this time, however you may request one should space be available. B-Teams will only be use to fill out a tournament.
Registration will open on November 1, 2024 and is on a first-come, first-served basis, and will close for each NQT site when all available slots at that tournament are filled.
Campus Coordinators and Coaches will receive advance information via email at least 10 days in advance of registration opening so that they may secure funding and plan which site for which they wish to regiaster.
Registration Procedures:
- To reserve a slot in a tournament, complete the NQT Registration form, making a commitment to attend the tournament and indicating how many (if any) persons in addition to the 4 players and 1 coach will attend (extra fees apply).
- You must pay the invoice (to the host HBCU) no later than the deadline on your invoice or your registration will be voided. On-site payments will not be permitted. There are no refunds. An invoice is sent via email immediately following registration.
- Later, you will complete the NCT team and player registrations as part of NCT Part 2 Qualification by January 24, 2025.
If you cancel your NQT registration after January 1st or if your team fails to attend the NQT for which you are registered, your team will be disqualified from consideration for the NCT.
Advancement to the NCT:
Teams for the NCT are determined based on their play at the National Qualifying Tournaments. Sponsor team selections may round out the NCT field.
Three groups of teams from the NQTs will advance to the NCT:
Automatically Advancing Teams: The top teams at each NQT, as determined by the results of the NQT playoffs:
1 division tournaments will advance 1 team automatically (playoff winner)
2 division tournaments will advance 2 teams automatically (playoff winner and runner-up)
3 division tournaments will advance 2 teams automatically (playoff winner and runner-up) and a third based on points per tossup heard (PPT)
Performance Advancing Teams: After the automatically advancing teams, the round robin performance of remaining teams will be evaluated across all NQTs. This formula takes into consideration win-loss record, points scored and strength of field.
