Winning BYU Team Stops Short of Sabbath Play

Brigham Young University’s four-man College Bowl team, answering rapid-fire questions on a wide diversity of subjects, defeated nine out of thirteen university teams it faced April 9—including eventual champion Michigan State—during the fifth annual National Invitational Tournament at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

But because the BYU team declined Sunday competition against six other teams, it was eliminated from the possibility of winning the NIT title. Michigan State, the defending champion, took final honors.

“Tour directors were very impressed with the quality of our team,” said Gladys Farmer, BYU’s team coach, “particularly since we entered knowing that we couldn’t win the title because of the Sunday games. In fact, they were so impressed that they are now strongly considering avoiding Sunday games in the future.”

The College Bowl experience has been termed the “varsity sport of the mind.” “It represents, I think,” said Coach Farmer, “the university spirit at its best. It’s the thirst for knowledge—knowing it and imparting it with speed and self-confidence.” Subjects in which students must have a vast store of knowledge include science, mathematics, history, literature, general knowledge, sports, movies, current events, fine arts, philosophy, social sciences, and the classics.

In tournament competition BYU scored a total of 2,100 points against their opponents’ 995 during the nine Saturday games, including a 305–215 point victory over Michigan State. BYU also defeated such well-known schools as Princeton (255–140), Ohio State (190–75), Duke (200–80), and Indiana (340–80).

The Cougars lost to North Carolina (330–120), Harvard (200–165), Georgia Tech (175–165), and Wisconsin (275–125).

“We feel very good about defeating two of the top four teams,” the coach said.