The National Collegiate GUTS Championship is recognized by the United States GUTS Players Association (USGPA) as the crowning collegiate championship event. The tournament is played in a single-elimination bracket format. Teams are made up of three players. All matches except for the Finals are won by the first team to reach nine points. We play in an indoor arena with a soft, clay dirt floor. We couple the GUTS championship with our Player Party so the energy is high and the players are all in a good mood. The arena was set up with four courts, one for each section of the 64 team bracket. All 41 teams were placed in the bracket. Some schools fielded two teams. To keep it fair, those teams had to play against each other in the first round to see which one would represent their school. They were also rewarded for fielding the two teams by being placed in a seed that resulted in a bye. Each court had an official to keep score and make any calls that the competing teams could not agree on. The annual Collegiate GUTS Championship Director, Walter Clay, went through a brief overview of the format and rules and then announced each of the brackets and the first round matchups.