There is no rule forcing teams to choose between formats. Many play all three. Several teams have never affiliated because CBI is beyond their budget. Other schools say their reason for deaffiliation is that NAQT provides them with less expensive IM packets of equal quality. This year Caltech and Penn ran their IM tourneys with NAQT questions and said they were pleased to have made the switch because the quality was the same, but the expense was one quarter of what CBI charges.
Some teams deaffiliate because they prefer a different type of question.
They say that CBI is either too easy, or a test of speed, rather than a test of knowledge. It is the policy of the ACF newsletter to recommend teams to participate in every tournament they can afford. Once again Minnesota will host the Fifth Annual Paul Bunyan All-Onion Masters Invitational on Saturday, June 21 at the University of Minnesota. Teams should consist of three players and if possible one retiree. Write to Dave Dornan for more details.