Guy Fieri Says ‘Tournament of Champions’ Chefs Are Like ‘Top Athletes’

March Madness meets meats and veggies in Tournament of Champions, a new competition that puts 16 chefs — including Alex Guarnaschelli, Amanda Freitag and Eric Greenspan — into NCAA basketball – style brackets for five weeks of face-offs.

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“The level at which chefs [perform] these days is very much that level of top athletes,” explains host Guy Fieri. “So it was a natural fit to plug them into a bracket system and see who comes out on top.”

The quality of the dishes counts, obviously, but each round also tests the chefs’ creativity and ability to adapt.

(Credit: Food Network)

To mix up the challenges, Fieri says, “We built a special machine [called] the Randomizer to create insane combinations of proteins, produce, equipment, cooking styles and time.” Now that’s a game changer.

Tournament of Champions, Series Premiere, Wednesday, March 4, 10/9c, Food Network