‘Jeopardy!’ Tournament of Champions Matchups Revealed

Ken Jennings
Jeopardy!

It’s the moment Jeopardy! fans have been waiting for, the Tournament of Champions kicks off on Monday, October 31, and we now know who will be playing who in the highly-anticipated series.

Jeopardy! has revealed the full bracket for the upcoming tournament, which sees the most-winningest contestants from Season 38 battling it out for the ultimate title and $250K prize. The competition includes 21 former champions facing off in a three-round tournament presided over by Jeopardy! co-host Ken Jennings.

The Monday, October 31 episode sees fan-favorite Uber driver Ryan Long (16 wins) taking on attorney Megan Wachspress (6 wins) and executive assistant Maureen O’Neil (4 wins). This will be followed on Tuesday, November 1, by actor Jonathan Fisher (11 wins) up against software developer Andrew He (5 wins) and piano teacher Christine Whelchel (4 wins).

On Wednesday, November 2, attorney Brian Chang (7 wins) takes on healthcare data specialist Tyler Rhode (5 wins) and homemaker Margaret Shelton (4 wins). Then, on Thursday, November 3, community college instructor Courtney Shah (7 wins) faces off against software team lead John Focht (4 wins) and the second winner of the currently airing Second Chance Tournament.

The last two quarter-finals games will see meteorologist Eric Ahasic (6 wins) take on College Competition winner Jaskaran Singh and pension calculation developer Jackie Kelly (4 wins) on Friday, November 4. Then, on Monday, November 7, attorney Zach Newkirk will face Jessica Stephens (who won the first week of the Second Chance Tournament) and Sam Buttrey (who won the Professor’s Tournament).

The winners of the quarter-finals games will move on to the semi-finals to face super-champ Amy Schneider (40 wins), who received an automatic bye into the next round, as did fellow super-champs Matt Amodio (38 wins) and Mattea Roach (23 wins). But fans won’t have to wait until the semi-finals to see the three super-champs in action.

On Tuesday, November 8, the tournament will take a short break to air a special exhibition game between the three top-seeded champions. Schneider, Amodio, and Roach will compete against each other for the first time ever in a friendly warm-up game.

The exhibition game will not count towards the Tournament of Champions, which will resume on November 9, with Schneider’s semi-final episode. Amodio’s semi-final airs on Thursday, November 10th, while Roach takes the stage on Friday, November 11.

“I am beyond hyped for this. Even though his is my first live ToC, this one still feels bigger,” wrote a fan on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum following the bracket reveal. Others shared similar sentiments, with one user stating, “I’ve seen nearly every TOC since 2004 and I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited for a TOC as I am for this one.”

“You all need to mute me before this #Jeopardy! ToC starts airing because I am not going to shut up about this absolutely stacked roster,” wrote a fan on Twitter. “This is the Olympics for trivia nerds but as if it were fancasted by die hard Olympics fans.”

There was also plenty of excitement for the exhibition game, with one fan writing, “Oooh. That exhibition match between those three should be fire. I’m going with Mattea …” While another noted, “The exhibition match should be great fun to combat the Election Day jitters and take a break from the coverage/nerves!!”

Of course, others were already making predictions about who would triumph in the tournament. “Fully expecting Amy Scheider to clean house but I personally would like to see Ryan Long win it all,” said one Reddit user, while another added, “Mattea seems like a bit of a loose cannon. I could easily see her either winning it all or getting eliminated in her first game.”

“Who I think will win: Matt. Of the other two super champs, Amy and Mattea don’t bet as much or DD [Daily Double] hunt like he does, so they’d have to outbuzz him consistently to have a chance,” explained one viewer.

“Ryan has an easy path. Probably done on purpose as a mini-bye (relatively of course. Not trying to diminish the abilities of the other good players),” said one fan, noting how the 16-game winner is facing off against lower-seeded players in the first round.

“Rooting hard for Christine on this one… but everybody here is amazing, and I cannot wait to see who comes out on top!” tweeted another fan.

Who do you think will win the Tournament of Champions? Let us know in the comments below.

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