Email us at podcast@biblequizzer.net with any comments, questions, insertions, or deletions. Matt talked about the end of year rankings, what they tell us, where he disagreed, and if there is a more excellent way. Click here to download the entire podcast. WARNING, it is over FORTY minutes.

If you want to just hear a special ten minute cut-out, just click on it below.

1. Temple (TN)-3.0 AVG finish-4 majors attended
My first place team on the ballot is Temple Tennessee. Temple won their two majors with Cullen Baggett, Ariana Balka, and Andrew Proffitt. Temple started off with a bigger roster at Athens and had a lot team chemistry issues and finished 5th. With a roster tweak Temple won CI and SCQANIT. Add Grant Balka to the mix and you have their AACS roster. Everybody predicted Temple to be in the finals at AACS, and the first 6 quizzes of the day it sure looked that way. In a quiz against New York and Woodside (final 2 at AACS as it turned out) they got a big high. Temple was on fire and I think they blew it out from the inside. If you were to ask anybody at AACS on Tuesday who they thought the best team was I would predict that about 90% wouldn’t hesitate to say Temple. Now, they disappointed a lot of people at AACS and Athens under those very unique circumstances. But who was the only team to win more than one major? Who was the only team to place higher than Athens not only once but twice?! Other ministries would give anything to have one the Temple quizzers mentioned above. Try finding that firepower anywhere else.

2. Athens (GA)-1.66 AVG finish-3 majors attended
Athens Georgia comes in at 2^nd on my ballot by a gnat’s eyelash. Dalton Croy, Chase Hockema, Calvin Pettyjohn, Katey Davis, and Toni Davis make up this team of five very solid quizzers. The Nick Saban of Bible Quiz (David Poston) can recruit kids and get them pumped on quiz day. Athens started off the year by winning their own tournament. At CI they scored more points than anybody and quizzed circles around many teams. They got 2^nd at CI on the last question by nanoseconds. Then they got 2^nd at SCQANIT! Athens is not eligible for AACS, but that does little to change my ballot. They went to three majors and placed 1^st, 2^nd, and 2^nd.  Athens is going nowhere and they’ll be back next year with that whole line-up again!

3. Woodside (CO)-3.5 AVG finish-4 majors attended
The 2014 AACS champions come in 3^rd on my ballot. Woodside came back from a poor season a year ago and won AACS. Finishing 5^th at Athens, 5^th at CI, and 3^rd at SCQANIT just shows their level of consistency. Led by two seniors Woodside certainly surprised people with their AACS win. Slow and steady did win AACS for them. Even though they won AACS, they never placed higher than Athens at a major and placed above Temple only at AACS. Take for example their record at AACS, they had only 3 high, 8 middles, and one low. Sure the tortoise beat the hare, but the lack of highs, are not super impressive.

4. Heritage Mission (NY)-4.25 AVG finish-4 majors attended
Heritage Mission comes in 4^th on my ballot. Heritage had a great run at Athens finishing 2^nd. On Friday night at CI they looked like the team to beat as they took the #1 spot in the seeding. I don’t know what happened, but, they collapsed and finished 9^th. After that shocking struggle Heritage came back strong to claim 4^th at SCQNIT and 2^nd at AACS. Heritage always seemed to collapse at the end of each tournament. I have them at 4^th because they have who I believe to be the best quizzer in the nation (Mercy Lofgren) and they could consistently give better teams a very hard time. Look for Heritage Mission to come back locked and loaded next year.

5. Hillsdale (FL)-4.75 AVG finish-4 majors attended
The reigning champions come in at 5^th on my ballot. Led by Cat Smith, this team could have very well won back to back National Championships. Many spectators discounted Hillsdale due to the fact that they lost the best quizzer in the country last year (Bobby Smith). Hillsdale placed 3^rd at Athens but then dropped to 6th at CI, 6^th at SCQANIT, and 4^th at AACS. Hillsdale will be back next year with Cat and Sarah paving the way.

6. Bethel-Calvary (SC)-3.5 AVG finish-2 majors attended
In 6^th place is Bethel-Calvary. Again, the fact that they only came to two majors hurts them on my ballot. Finishing 4th at Athens and 3^rd at CI, this team seemed to be right there in the mix. With hands-down the best siblings in quiz and arguably best quizzer, (Shelby Ziemer) Bethel, for one reason or another decided not to quiz SCQANIT. They were not eligible for AACS either way, but the choice to not Quiz SCQANIT brought this team to 6^th on my ballot when they could have possibly been #1.

7. Kettle Moraine (WI)-8.0 approximate AVG finish-4 majors attended
My 7^th place team made me dizzy trying to decide where they should be. Kettle Moraine had a roller-coaster type year. Their rosters seemed to have changes for each tournament and I don’t believe that they had their best assortment together until AACS. Kettle (as far as I know) didn’t make the top ten at Athens, got 8^th at CI, and had a 7^th place and 9^th place or so finish at SCQANIT. Having said that; they completely turned things around for AACS. Not only did they make it to the finals, they got 3^rd.  I can’t put them above 7^th because of their finishes earlier in the season, but the fact that they didn’t give up and quizzed strong for AACS says a lot about the determination of that quiz program.

8. Calvary (SC)-6.0 AVG finish-2 majors attended
Stepping in at 8^th is Calvary South Carolina. The hosts of SCQANIT had a great Quiz season this year. Led by Kyle and Katrina McMindes, this team seemed at times to be unbeatable. With their liberal quiz style they would hit big or miss big. Unfortunately they missed big at the end of both major tournaments they went to, finishing 7^th at Athens and 5^th at SCQANIT. Kyle and Katrina will lead Calvary again next year with help from a great upcoming quizzer named Luke Greene.

9. Falls (WI) 4.0 AVG finish- 1 major attended
I’ve got Falls Wisconsin at 9th. This situation really caused me to stop and think. Falls came to only one major and finished 4^th. Honestly they had the talent to win CI. John Mark Thompson and Stephen Gillmore propelled this team to a very solid fourth place run. However, I would have a problem ranking them much higher due to the fact that they only came to one major tournament.

10. Pleasant View (KY)-8.75 approximate AVG finish-4 majors attended
Coming in at tenth I have Pleasant View Kentucky. PVKY went to all four majors having an average finish of approximately 8.75. Led by two seniors, (Shekinah Duff and Olivia Thren) PVKY quizzed strong but never seemed to finish the tournament. After some struggles at Athens and CI, PVKY quizzed much better at SCQANIT and AACS. As a matter of fact, at AACS PVKY went 4-1-2. I believe they were averaging nearly 200 points a quiz on Tuesday but after running into two tough quizzes were eliminated. Even though their best two quizzers were seniors, I believe PVKY will be even better this year because their ministry contains “The next generation of Bible Quiz.”

Now, this is just the way I feel about the rankings. I based these observations and conclusions only upon major tournaments, if I added Blue Ridge and Kentuckiana to the mix it would only point to Temple and create many variables. Also, there’s a fact that can’t be disputed: The Best Team Doesn’t Always Win. Congratulations to all the teams and work hard for next year!

Final Poll of 2014.  We’ve never before had such a dichotomy of voting at the top. Quite a year of Bible Quiz. Anyone up for a Memorial Day Weekend Quiz over Matthew?