Calum Matheson and Austin Carson are roommates.
Theyre also the best two-person college debate team in the nation.
This MSU Debate Team duo brought home top honors in a tournament hosted by the University of Kentucky earlier this month - the first time MSUs top two-person team has won.
The pair met when they were recruited by MSU. Both agree living together has been beneficial.
Half the time were researching or preparing for the topics and (at home) its a great time to get away, said Carson, an international relations senior.
The tournaments topic was how the U.S. government should increase control of various areas of Native American land. The topic will be used at other competitions throughout the year.
Matheson, a social relations and history junior, said many issues about the topic will be debated.
When we got the topic, we just hit the stacks at the library, Carson said.
Besides the knowledge needed to debate, the team also has to deal with fatigue.
Each debate round lasts two hours and Carson and Matheson competed in four or five a day.
Matheson said even though they have two hours, contestants still have to choose words correctly.
When youre winning, its easy but if youre losing, it can get pretty violent, he said. We are college students and we do use vulgarity.
In the end, MSU also brought home the best individual speaker - Matheson.
MSU Debate Team coach Jason Trice called the duos performance tremendous, but hes also impressed by his teams depth.
International relations sophomore Greta Stahl and and no-preference sophomore David Strauss reached the semifinals.
Weve never had a team go that far before and with (Matheson and Austins performance), it speaks to the strength and depth of this team, Trice said.