Brain Bowl is an academic competition in which Florida Community College teams are pitted against one another. Teams consist of up to six players, only four of whom play at any given time. A moderator reads questions from four subject areas including humanities, mathematics, natural science and social sciences. Each area is equally represented. A buzzer system is used to identify the player who answers first. Ten points are awarded for correctly answering the tossup question. The team winning the tossup is eligible to win up to 30 points for correctly answering the follow-up bonus questions. After 24 questions, the team that has accumulated the most points wins the game. No questions about popular culture or media are used in Brain Bowl.
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Florida Brain Bowl Purpose
The purpose of Brain Bowl competition is to recognize outstanding student academic achievement, to help focus community interest on academic excellence in Florida community colleges and to help foster relations among faculty and students as they work together on this joint project.
History and Scholarships
Florida Brain Bowl was created in the fall of 1981 and until 1991 was a joint project of the Florida State Department of Education and the Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA). Since 1991, the FCSAA has been the sole sponsor of the Brain Bowl.
After initially gaining the approval and support of the Florida Community College Council of Presidents, the fall of 1981 was spent developing rules and organizing regional competitions. The cash awards for the initial year came from a combination of funds from the legislative appropriation that established the Program to Recognize Initiative and Distinction in Education (PRIDE) and more than $12,000 that the founders of the Brain Bowl competition were able to raise from private sources.
Since its inception in 1981, the Florida Community Colleges Brain Bowl competition has involved more than 1,000 students in regional and state competitions. During that time, the Florida Department of Education has awarded more than $80,000 to community college students who have competed in these tournaments. Private colleges and universities, as well as state supported universities, have made available almost $1 million worth of scholarship opportunities. Each year the host school records the Championship match for future broadcast to the television viewers in the State of Florida.
Tournament History
Brain Bowl Tournament winners are:
1982: Florida State College at Jacksonville
1983: Florida State College at Jacksonville
1984: St. Petersburg College
1985: Miami Dade College -South Campus
1986: Seminole State College of Florida
1987: Miami Dade College -South Campus
1988: Florida State College at Jacksonville
1989: Broward College
1990: Broward College
1991: Broward College
1992: Broward College
1993: Broward College
1994: Valencia College
1995: Valencia College
1996: College of Central Florida
1997: Broward College
1998: Broward College
1999: Valencia College
2000: Tallahassee Community College
2001: Valencia College
2002: Pensacola State College
2003: Valencia College
2004: Northwest Florida State College
2005: Northwest Florida State College
2006: Broward College
2007: Northwest Florida State College
2008: Chipola College
2009: Chipola College
2010: Chipola College
2011: Chipola College
2012: Chipola College
2013: Chipola College
2014: Chipola College
2015: State College of Florida
2016: State College of Florida
Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA)
Panhandle Region Teams
Chipola College
Gulf Coast State College
Pensacola State College
North Florida Community College
Northwest Florida State College
Tallahassee Community College
Florida Gateway College (formerly Lake City Community College)
East Central Region Teams
Eastern Florida State College
College of Central Florida
Florida State College Jacksonville
Lake-Sumter State College
Santa Fe College
Seminole State College of Florida
West Central Region Teams
Hillsborough Community College
State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota
Polk State College
South Florida State College
Valencia College
St. Petersburg College
Pasco–Hernando State College
Southern Region Teams
Broward College
Florida Keys Community College
Indian River State College
Palm Beach State College
Miami Dade College