Debate rankings, 2026-27

These are rankings for the College Policy, High School Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Public Forum circuits for the 2026-27 season. Ratings come from a Bradley–Terry model, the standard statistical model for head-to-head competition. The code is all open source.

Rating calculation

Every ballot from the season is scored at once, and a win over a team is worth more if that team has proven to be a strong competitor later on in the season. The model is adjusted for debate in three ways:

• Each judge on a panel contributes a ballot, so a 2-1 loss counts as closer than a 3-0 loss.
• The model estimates how much being aff is worth in each event and adjusts every result for it.
• Competitors with few rounds are pulled toward the average, so rankings are not as volatile.

Byes and closeouts are not counted. Ratings are on the Elo scale: 1500 is the field average, and a 400-point gap means roughly 10-to-1 odds. Each competitor also has a deviation, which reflects the model’s uncertainty about their rating. The deviation shrinks as they debate more rounds.

Majors (Lincoln-Douglas and High School Policy)

For Lincoln-Douglas and High School Policy, ballots at major tournaments carry double weight. Performance at a major more accurately reflects a debater’s skill given a robust judging pool and debaters putting in their best effort, and the rankings aim to identify debaters expected to perform well at the TOC.