This page contains an archive of previously-sent team logistics emails for the 2026 PACE NSC.
Logistics Email #1 (sent April 14)
Logistics Email #2 (sent May 4)
Logistics Email #3 (sent June 1)
Logistics Email #1
1. Room Reservations – Hyatt Regency O’Hare
PACE has secured a discounted rate of $176 per night plus tax for double-occupancy rooms at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, where the entirety of this year’s NSC will take place. You can book directly through Hyatt’s website here or by calling 847-696-1234 and using group code G-BIND.
All registered teams should reserve their rooms promptly, as our group rate expires at 12pm Central time on May 11. Teams reserving their hotel rooms after that may not be able to receive the discounted rate.
2. Registration and Payment Status
Teams are considered registered upon completion of the registration form and payment of the $100 deposit. The current field of both registered teams and pending registrations can be found here. As the field is expected to fill in April, please ensure that your deposit has been paid to secure your spot in the field.
Complete payment for all teams is due no later than May 10 in order to avoid late penalties. Any team who has not paid in full by May 21 may be dropped from the field at PACE’s discretion. If you have any questions about payments, please email treasurer@pace-nsc.org.
3. NSC Weekend Schedule
A preliminary schedule for the NSC weekend can be found here. A finalized schedule will be posted as we get closer to the tournament, and any modifications to the schedule during the NSC itself will be communicated both on the tournament website and via email as appropriate.
4. Eligibility and Gameplay Rules
Both the Eligibility Rules and Gameplay Rules for the 2026 NSC can be found on the PACE website at pace-nsc.org/nsc/official-ruleset. The Eligibility Rules (dated November 1, 2024) do not have any substantive changes from those used last year, while the Gameplay Rules (dated February 1, 2026) have several policy changes that teams should review, specifically Rules G.2, G.16, and HX.2.
5. What to expect next
The next big update will come in early May, and will include information about tournament format, and instructions for submitting rosters, media releases, and code of conduct agreements.
Logistics Email #2
The whole PACE team is excited to see you at the 2026 NSC next month in Rosemont! As we get closer to the tournament, we have additional information to share with teams, along with roster and participant agreement forms. For reference, you can view previous logistics emails here.
1. Schedule Adjustments
The Women in Quizbowl Social has been moved to Friday evening, and the David Riley Coaches Conference will be held on Saturday after the conclusion of Round 10. The updated schedule can be found here, and any additional changes will be communicated to teams.
2. Rooms at the Hyatt
There are still rooms at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare available at the NSC group discount rate ($176/night plus tax for double-occupancy). We recommend booking as soon as possible to ensure the hotel does not sell out. You can book directly through Hyatt’s website here or by calling 847-696-1234 and using group code G-BIND.
3. Registration Payments
As a reminder, complete payment for all teams is due no later than May 10 in order to avoid late penalties. Any team who has not paid in full by May 21 may be dropped from the field at PACE’s discretion. If you have any questions about payments, please email Mike Bentley at treasurer@pace-nsc.org.
4. Roster Submissions
Each team (including those on the waitlist or on standby) is required to submit their roster in advance, to ensure fair and balanced seeding of the tournament field. Additionally, the name and grade of each player (along with intended college/university enrollment, for seniors who wish to include that information) will be published in the official PACE NSC Program.
Rosters should be completed only once per team and must be submitted no later than Tuesday, May 26 (this is the day after Memorial Day). If your team requires an extension to finalize the roster of attending students, you must request that extension no later than Friday, May 22. All rosters must be submitted using this form. If you have to make any changes to rosters or participant agreements, please email me directly (do not complete a second form entry).
5. Participant Agreements
Each competing student is required to submit a participant agreement, which includes the PACE NSC Code of Conduct and NSC Media Release. These must be signed by the competing student (and a parent/guardian, if the student is under 18 as of today) and must be submitted no later than Tuesday, May 26. Unlike previous NSCs, all Participant Agreements must be submitted in advance of the tournament using the online form here.
6. Player Accommodations
If any players from your school require any accommodations to ensure a fair playing experience, please email me directly (td@pace-nsc.org) before the Tuesday, May 26 roster deadline. More information about the accommodations policies for the PACE NSC can be found in Rule F2(b) of the PACE Gameplay Rules (available at pace-nsc.org/nsc/official-ruleset).
7. Tournament structure and format
(removed, see Logistics Email #3, Section 1 for updated format)
8. What to expect next
I’ll be sending a final pre-tournament email to all teams on Monday, June 1, with the finalized schedule of events, logistics for team check-in processes, and more. In the meantime, please continue to email me with any questions that may arise.
Logistics Email #3
1. Updated tournament structure and format
The 2026 NSC will use a 72-team format, as was used most recently in 2024, the details of which are below.
Phase I (Preliminary Rounds 1-5): Teams will play a full round-robin in twelve groups of six teams each. Following any necessary tiebreakers, teams will be divided evenly into three Tiers (I, II, and III) based on finish within each Preliminary group.
Phase II (Playoff Rounds 6-10): Within each Tier, teams will be split into four groups of six teams each, playing a full round-robin within the group. Ties will be broken after Phase II only for Tier I teams. In each tier, the top two teams in each bracket will move into the top (1st-8th for Tier 1) bracket, the middle two teams will move into the middle (9-16th for Tier 1) bracket, and the bottom two teams will move into the bottom (17th-24th) bracket.
Phase III (Superplayoff Rounds 11-16): Superplayoffs will be split into 9 brackets of 8 teams each, with all teams playing six games (rounds 11-16). In this phase, each team will play the six teams they did not share a bracket with in Phase II, as well as one opponent from their Phase II bracket. At the beginning of this phase, the top bracket of eight teams will be in contention for the title.
Any Junior Varsity and/or Small School finals will take place during Rounds 17-18. All teams are scheduled to compete through Sunday at 12:30pm, unless your team is involved in any finals (including JV and Small School finals) or tiebreakers (for 3rd-16th place), in which case matches will resume after lunch.
2. Confirmation of Rosters and Missing Participant Agreements
A public roster (as of 11:00am CDT today) [was sent] for teams to confirm that all player and coach names are spelled correctly and that grade levels, along with JV and Small School designations, are appropriately listed. If you have any corrections that need to be made, please reply directly to this email. If your team is completely highlighted in green, we have received your roster and all participant agreements: any team member not highlighted in green has not yet submitted their participant agreement. Please ensure that any missing participant agreements are submitted no later than Tuesday, June 2nd; students who do not have their Participant Agreements submitted will not be able to compete.
3. Player Accommodations
In order to ensure a fair and enjoyable NSC experience for all attendees, please make sure that you let me know ASAP if any of your players, coaches, or team-affiliated spectators require any special accommodations. All accommodation requests should be sent to this email address (acsikifejer@pace-nsc.org) no later than Wednesday evening.
4. NSC Schedule & Floor Plan
The final schedule of events can be found on the PACE website. You can also download a copy of the Hyatt Regency O’Hare floor plan using this link.
5. Tournament Communications
All tournament information will be available on the tournament live hub at pace-nsc.org (which will be available later this week). Any urgent updates for all teams will be communicated via this page and email, while any team-specific urgent communications will be made via call / text to the team’s registered chaperone.
6. Team Check-in
Teams can check in and drop off their buzzer systems from 6:00pm to 9:00pm in the Conference Center Foyer (Lobby Level) on Friday evening. Any teams arriving after that time will be able to check in from 6:45am to 7:15am on Saturday morning at the same location. To avoid unnecessary congestion during check-in, we kindly ask that each team send their chaperone to the check-in desk.
7. Team Headshots and Interviews
From 6:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday, PACE will be offering free headshots / photos to players and coaches in Liberty for use in social media and livestream broadcasting. We encourage everyone arriving on Friday to attend, and photos will be provided to participants after the tournament. Players and coaches who have indicated they do not want their image used by PACE can still get their photo taken, but PACE will not use their photo for use in social media or broadcasting. PACE is also looking for players and coaches to be interviewed from 6:00pm to 9:00pm Friday. Participants will be interviewed about their quiz bowl experience, coaching, and other related topics. If you are interested in being interviewed, please reach out to akumbhardare@pace-nsc.org.
To ensure that team check-in is as efficient as possible, I ask that chaperones first complete the team check-in at the Conference Center Foyer, then head with their team to Liberty for team photos if they would like. As a reminder, the Women in Quizbowl social will also be held on Friday 6:30pm – 9:00pm in Ronald Reagan and the David Riley Topics in Quizbowl Conference will be held on Saturday 7:00pm – 9:00pm in Florence.
8. Tournament Conclusion
All teams will play 6 rounds on Sunday, the last of which will conclude at approximately 12:30pm. Following the lunch break, we will conduct any required tiebreakers through 16th place, along with finals, the awards ceremony, and the All-Star Game. The tournament as a whole is expected to conclude by 5:00pm on Sunday.
9. Buzzer Systems
If you signed up to bring one, remember to bring your buzzer systems! If you are bringing any buzzer systems to the NSC, you will be able to collect those beginning at 1:00pm on Sunday. If you do not remember whether or not you signed up to bring any, or how many buzzer systems you listed, please reply to this email ASAP and I can let you know.
10. What to expect next
I’ll be sending out a welcome email on Friday morning with some more information about tournament communications (including liveblogging and livestreaming) and some final housekeeping items. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to email me at acsikifejer@pace-nsc.org.