‘Jeopardy!’ Reveals Tournament of Champions Lineup With ‘Disappointing’ Dropout & Big Twist
Jeopardy! has unveiled the lineup and format for its iconic Tournament of Champions. It features a twist borrowed from 2022: the top three players automatically advance into the semifinals, all three-day champs in the mix like 2024, and something blue (the set). The stage is set for what fans expect to be a buzzworthy showdown.
Producer Sarah Foss and (retired) champion Sam Buttrey announced the 2025 ToC details on Monday’s Inside Jeopardy! podcast. They prefaced that Lisa Ann Walter, who won Celebrity Jeopardy! and was expected to compete like Ike Barinholtz, is out because of scheduling conflicts with Abbott Elementary. “A bit of disappointing news,” Foss shared. “But we have extended the invite for next year.”
The 2025 ToC will consist of 21 players, the top 20 champs from last April until December, and the winner of a 15-contestant Champions Wildcard. Also, like in past years, the ToC will immediately follow a Second Chance Competition for non-winners and a Wildcard for brief winners who didn’t make the cusp.
The postseason airs in one chunk starting on December 30, 2024 until early February 2025. The ToC will premiere on January 27, 2025, and last around two and a half weeks.
Like the 2022 ToC, the top three players, Adriana Harmeyer, Isaac Hirsch, and Drew Basile, will be seeded directly into the semifinals, with the dynamic trio also playing an exhibition game that airs on TuneIn Radio.
“We will have six quarterfinal matchups, those winners and the three seeded players will go onto our semifinals, that will give us nine players, Foss shared. “They will each play one of three semifinal games. One will advance and that will give us our finals.”
Once more, the finals will be a first-to-three wins format, which is not the same as a best of seven, Ken Jennings! The prize is $250,000 and a berth into Jeopardy! Masters. The competitors, as announced on the podcast, are as follows:
2025 Tournament of Champions
- Adriana Harmeyer (15 wins)
- Isaac Hirsch (nine wins)
- Drew Basile (seven wins)
- Greg Jolin (five wins)
- Alison Betts (five wins)
- Mark Fitzpatrick (five wins)
- Amy Hummel (five wins)
- Ryan Manton (four wins)
- Grant DeYoung (four wins)
- Will Wallace (four wins)
- Amar Kakirde (four wins)
- Lucas Partridge (three wins)
- David Erb (three wins)
- Will Stewart (three wins)
- Neilesh Vinjamuri (three wins)
- Rishabh Wuppalapati (three wins)
- Allison Gross (three wins)
- Weckiai Rannila (three wins)
- The Champions Wildcard winner
- Two more contestants whose games haven’t aired, or are currently, airing
2025 Champions Wildcard
- Jay Fisher (three wins)
- Marko Saric (two wins)
- Davey Morrison (two wins)
- Will Weiss (two wins)
- Aiden Orzech (two wins)
- Jen Feldman (two wins)
- Eamonn Campbell (two wins)
- Joey DeSena (two wins)
- Evan Dorey (one win)
- Second Chance winner 1
- Second Chance winner 2
- Four more contestants whose games haven’t aired, or are currently, airing
Fans took to Reddit reacting to the big news and placing their bets now that the next ToC is taking shape.
“Kind of surprised that the exhibition will be on TuneIn. Yes, I know, it was only televised last time because it fell on Election Day, but 6 quarterfinals + exhibition + 3 semifinals = 10 and the Finals Series can begin on a Monday with an entire weekend of hype,” one fan wrote.
“There are some really strong players in every win tier here. I still think Adriana is the one to beat, but I don’t feel like there are one or two prohibitive favorites this time around, which makes it more fun IMO,” wrote another.
“Agreed that no one is a huge favorite, though as I’ve posted elsewhere I think Isaac is the one to beat,” Greg Jolin predicted.
Like the 2022 ToC with Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, and Amy Schneider, the top three players won’t have to play the quarterfinals. This is the second time ever this has been done. Foss shared the decision was made because the top three all happen to have more than five wins.
The seeding system is a double-edged sword, as Foss was quick to point out, since Amodio lost to none other than Buttery in the 2022 ToC semifinals.
“They did have seeding in my tournament, they did not last year,” Buttrey shared. “But there is no guarantee seeding into the semifinal will get you into the finals as Mattea and Matt learned with undying sadness,” he joked.
“I cant wait,” Foss closed. “The excitement is in the air, the postseason is not disappointing so far.”
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C
All this crap of Tournaments has me turning this poor excuse of what used to be a GREAT game off!!! Don’t watch it anymore~want to see John Q. Public playing~give the Little Guy a chance and only do a Tournament once at the end of the year for about 3-4 days only, if that often!!
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G
Or why not the people that lost to ken, James and other mega winners
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R
Lol to each their own
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G
I think that Chris Pannulo was chopped out of the whole jeopardy competition because he had too much attention. I'm not over that yet and it really changed my love of the show. I just don't get that at all, whatever the reason it doesn't make sense. Smart and handsome and yup gone disappeared.
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Ever since 2022's TOC, I enjoyed the change in format, particularly in the Finals, from highest 2-day combined score to first to 3 wins---out of a maximum of 7 games---b/c the tournament became more intense and intellectually stimulating. Regarding privilege, however, I noticed subtle signs of white supremacy AND male dominance that are not widely publicized. If viewers look closely, notice how in 2022, Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio and Mattea Roach---and for the next TOC---Adriana Harmeyer, Isaac Hirsch and Drew Basile---are ALL white. I'm more concerned about the latter or most recent arrangement: ONLY Adriana proved herself as a super champ---i.e., at least 10 games wons---and besides---Isaac's and Drew's overall performances, in regular season, can't compare with Matt's and Mattea's. Also, Isaac and Drew didn't become super champs, so they don't deserve the privilege to automatically advance into Semifinals.
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J
Agreed, but maybe two tournaments: one for winners and one for top earning losers.
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G
what about James Holtzhauer. He's my FAVORITE. Guess I won't be watching.
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