UKAT - What Is It?

The University of Kentucky Academic Team is a group of students who enjoy playing in competitive collegiate academic competitions as a team. You may have heard it called 'Quiz Bowl,' 'College Bowl,' 'Quick Recall,' etc. Anywhere from one to four of us oppose another team consisting of one to four players. A game moderator reads questions on academic subjects such as history, science, literature, etc. The player who signals in before anyone else and answers the question correctly wins a certain number of points for their team, and usually receives a team bonus question.

There are many different forms of academic competition such as this - with variations on types of questions, scoring systems, match format/length/time, etc. Colleges and universities in the United States are principally active in three major "circuits" or formats. These formats are operated or guided by three different organizations. NAQT (National Academic Quiz Tournaments) and CBI (College Bowl Incorporated) are both commercial companies who run tournaments at various locations and times across the nation. ACF (Academic Competition Federation) is a non-profit federation of collegiate players and programs who designed a format of play that has become popular among the nation's largest universities, while not being strictly governed by a central body. Each of these formats differs from the rest and they offer various pros and cons. Please visit our Links page (accessible via the menu to the left) to access information about the formats in which the UKAT participates.

The UKAT competes primarily in ACF-style competitions, but has occasionally competed in NAQT tournaments. The UKAT does not play in CBI sanctioned events. Additionally, the UKAT is eligible to participate in an intrastate league of colleges and universities (including a couple of Ohio schools) called KCQRL (Kentucky Collegiate Quick Recall League). We have not participated in KCQRL events since 1999, in order to concentrate on ACF. ACF, however, can scare off inexperienced players due to its difficulty and depth of knowledge requisite to be a successful player. Team members are encouraged to voice their opinions on scheduling and tournaments, so that we may have the best and largest team possible.

If this information sounds interesting to you, by all means send us an e-mail to inquire about joining. We hope to see you!