A UA student competed in the 2010 Jeopardy College Championship, which aired on Feb. 2, said Mary Wymer, UA spokeswoman.
Will Warren, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said he ended up winning $46 in the game, but because he had been selected to play, he automatically received an additional $5,000.
“I did not get to reach the second round of the tournament,” he said. “At one point during the game, I was ahead by around $4,000, but then it slowly slipped away in Double Jeopardy.
“I asked the SGA … to pay for the sweatshirts I had to wear on the show, so I’ve earned $5,000 and two Bama sweatshirts.”
Warren said his involvement with the event started on a whim.
“This past summer, while I was at home for two weeks waiting for summer classes to start, my dad and I watched the 2009 Jeopardy College Championships when he’d come home for his lunch break,” Warren said. “After a day or two of me answering fairly well, my dad half-jokingly suggested that I try out.”
After a few days, he said he decided it would be fun to apply.
Warren said he went on the Jeopardy Web site and signed up after he found the requirements for the College Championship. After a few months, he received an e-mail from Jeopardy officials, giving him a time and date to take an online exam.
“Having taken the exam, a message came on the screen saying that if anything further was decided, that I would be notified,” he said.
“Two weeks later, I received an e-mail informing me [that I was selected] to attend an audition in Atlanta.”
At the audition, Warren said, Jeopardy officials asked him to take a 50-question test and play a mock version of the game. After about two hours, the potential competitors were told they would be notified in early December if they had been selected.
The filming of the show took place in Culver City, Calif. on Jan. 5, two days before the BCS National Championship game.
“[Jeopardy producers] flew me out to California and back and put me up in a nice hotel in Universal City,” Warren said. “I was able to be on Jeopardy and still make it to the game. Roll Tide.”
To read Will Warren’s Jeopardy blog, visit www.jeopardy.com/minisites/collegechamps-s26.
