<p>"homersimpson getting a bid to the TOC is sometimes a lot easier to do then qualifying 1st or 2nd in your district. There are some very and I mean very competitive districts like in Florida who usually own large national tournaments in large numbers, but many of them do not qualify to nationals. Only the very best can qualify to nationals. Secondly not all TOC bid tournaments are that hard such as Harvard."</p>
<p>The only reason they are considered competitive and top teams on the circuit do not always qualify to nfl nationals is because often times the nfl tournies and qualifying tournies are a different style than the nat circuit. Many teams that are awesome at a circuit style of debate may falter in front of a judge who doesn't know much. It's a lack of judge adaptation not necessarily that it's more competitive. It's just a different style of debate most of the time. Obviously, there are some nfl leagues and tournies that are similiar to the circuit style of debate, however, from what i've heard it's generally more of a lay judge type of debate. It's definitely all lay debate in our area.</p>