J! National College Championship 1st round matchups/format announced..

[Jeremy Nelson]

Alex Jacob brought this flaw up on Twitter re: the semifinal that I hadn’t considered:

It is absolutely plausible for one semi to end with the leader on $20k in a lock game, and the other three semis end with much more competitive games that force aggressive betting that leads to the lock game winner being shut out of the finals.

Essentially, this format forces leaders in lock games to consider putting their lock game in Jeopardy (I know) in order to beef up their score.

[weaklink75]

And if they had to do it this way, at least give 4th place the same $50k as 3rd- losing out of (at least) $15k though no fault of your own (a bad category draw, more competitive opponents) doesn't seem right.

[colonial]

Alex Jacob brought this flaw up on Twitter re: the semifinal that I hadn’t considered:

It is absolutely plausible for one semi to end with the leader on $20k in a lock game, and the other three semis end with much more competitive games that force aggressive betting that leads to the lock game winner being shut out of the finals.

Essentially, this format forces leaders in lock games to consider putting their lock game in Jeopardy (I know) in order to beef up their score.

I am guessing that, similar to first-round games in previous TOCs, contestants won't have an idea who won the other games/how much money was accumulated, etc., until the host announces who is advancing to the final.

I'm curious if the decision to eliminate one of the four semifinal winners came from Davies, Sony, or ABC (or a combination, for that matter). It's an enormous flaw that I'm surprised anyone thought was acceptable.

JD

[Kevin Prather]

Trying to stretch a ten-game format into eighteen games is of course a challenge, but it seems to me they could have come quite a bit closer to the classic format than this.

[TLEberle]

Trying to stretch a ten-game format into eighteen games is of course a challenge, but it seems to me they could have come quite a bit closer to the classic format than this.

Two leg semi-finals, repechage for top scoring semi-final losers where the winner keeps the cash.

[Jeremy Nelson]

Trying to stretch a ten-game format into eighteen games is of course a challenge, but it seems to me they could have come quite a bit closer to the classic format than this.

Two leg semi-finals, repechage for top scoring semi-final losers where the winner keeps the cash.

Can’t work under an 18 episode schedule unless you plan on wheeling a fourth podium out there for a round or two. The first 12 are quarterfinals, then you’ve only got six remaining games to figure out a winner from 12 semifinalists. I suppose you could have a six day ladder final, where seeds 10, 11,and 12 compete on Day 1 for the right to move on and play against the 8 and 9 seeds the following day, and so forth…could get interesting if a low seed went on a streak.

[TLEberle]

I mean you play games among early losers where the winner takes home coin to fill the time. An exhibition match if you will.

Personally I wouldn’t have had to relearn the lesson from Teen Reunion week back in the late 1990s where Dana Venator won her heat but took home $7500 for fourth place but nobody asked us. Or Hollywood Squares which had four semi final spots for seven QF winners in their college tournament. The fact that we can point put that they did something dumb just opens the show post-Alex to more criticism—I don’t think they will stop scoring own goals.

[Kevin Prather]

1. Quarterfinal 1
2. Quarterfinal 2

3. Quarterfinal 3
4. Quarterfinal 4

5. Quarterfinal 5
6. Quarterfinal 6

7. Quarterfinal 7
8. Quarterfinal 8

9. Quarterfinal 9
10. Exhibition game for three highest-scoring non-winners.

11. Semifinal 1a
12. Semifinal 1b

13. Semifinal 2a
14. Semifinal 2b

15. Semifinal 3a
16. Semifinal 3b

17. Final a
18. Final b

Alternatively, the first episode can feature only one game, and pad with campus tour reels and contestant interstitials. There would be 27 contestants to feature after all, and this would eliminate the need for the exhibition game.

[TLEberle]

Essentially that. If you’re playing for $250k the semi-final is more interesting and you won’t be as likely to have drubbings, plus this makes the first round more competitive where everyone is either playing for a spot in the bracket or a chance at some extra cash.

[Unrealtor]

9. Quarterfinal 9
10. Exhibition game for three highest-scoring non-winners

I'd eliminate the 9th quarterfinal and make the game with the three highest-scoring non-winners into a competition for the last spot in the semis. Either one game padded to an hour or a two-game match.