College Jeopardy Champion Crowned

Quote of the Week:

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” –Dr. Seuss

Fun Fact of the Week:

The origin of raising a toast comes from the Ancient Greeks. In an offering to the gods, they would drop a piece of toast in their wine and raise their glasses, asking for good health in return.

News Update:

University of Texas at Austin can lay claim to enrolling the smartest college student in the country. Jaskaran Singh, a senior, won the Jeopardy! National College Championship last night, claiming the $250,000 grand prize and a spot in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.

Via The University of Texas at Austin

Singh finished with a total score of $51,700, edging out Kennesaw State’s Raymond Goslow, who finished with a score of $46,999. The format took the total score across two games, and Singh used a big first game (a score of $32,400 to Goslow’s $13,200) to take the lead and hang on.

However, Goslow will not be too disappointed as he takes home $100,000. Northeastern’s Liz Feltner finished third (with a score of $7,400), winning $50,000.

According to KXAN, “Singh gave 48 correct responses and 10 incorrect responses over the two games, and actually had the worst correct response percentage of the three finalists with 83%. He found all six of the Daily Double clues and answered five of them correctly. He buzzed in on 66% of the questions.”

Despite lower numbers than his competitors, Singh’s strategy worked. He said with a smile, “I buzz in fast and know things.”

KXAN contributed to this article.

Sports Update:

The College Football Playoff will not expand to 12 teams. Not yet, at least.

Representatives from eleven conferences met to vote on changing the format from a four-team playoff to a twelve-team playoff, with the top four seeds receiving byes. A unanimous vote was required for change, but the Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-12 did not oblige.

Why would these conferences say no to a format that would provide more opportunities to send their teams to the playoffs? There are a number of reasons.

Via Ryan Collinsworth/Action Network

The dissenters raised concerns about the devaluation of the Rose Bowl, the increase in injuries that comes with more games, and the fact that this format would not be tried for one year, but would go into effect for at least three years.

Perhaps, too, they recognized the further consolidation of power by the SEC. Yes, more teams from other conferences would enter the playoff, but could any of them really challenge the SEC? The SEC could have up to six teams in the playoff, and with their strength they could realistically have an all-SEC semifinals. The only team that has shown any resistance to the SEC in the past few years has been Clemson.

However, in response the SEC could think about forming its own playoff. It’s unlikely, but with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas this year, the conference is massive and certainly has the firepower.

Most likely, the vote will come again and the CFP will expand to twelve teams for 2026. Perhaps it was a good thing the new format was blocked this time around, because by then there may be more teams to rival the SEC’s superiority.

The Los Angeles Times contributed to this article.