I don’t think they thought having 3 of 4 winning semifinalists advance was a good format. But given the hours the tournament runs, not sure what other format they would have used.
There is always some luck involved in terms of contestants you face and categories/questions you see (don’t think the 3 women tonight were totally thrilled with the ESPN category with one correct answer among them :)). But given they had to eliminate one winning contestant, not sure how else they could have done it.
Hook 'em! At least one of my faves made it to the final.
Two out of three finalists from public universities!!!
I love that. 
I really like the Texas guy.
Me, too. The Kennesaw guy as well. They both exude a kind of chillness in their games.
Will the three finalists be playing two games Tuesday with the highest combined total winning? That has always been the practice in tournament finals.
Yes. Two final games will air back to back Tuesday with combined total determining the winner.
Looking forward to the finals tonight!
Me too
Impressive performance. Dominate on the signaling button, get the questions right and find the daily doubles (all 6 of them and get 5 of them right) and you are tough to beat.
I like the dialogue among the contestants and Mayim at the end of the first game. Unscripted. Relaxed. Fun. I am sure they don’t get something that is interesting after each game though.
And maybe fitting that the second game (and with the it final) was a runaway. So many of the games in the tournament were.
Hook 'em! 
Poor Raymond looked crushed during Double Jeopardy of the first game. He knew then and there it was over.
He definitely looked dejected in the first game (though starting the second game, he was relaxed noting the worst he could do is walk away with $50k after having fun during the tournament). But he stood a chance in the second game. Delta from first game was just under $20,000. Build a $10,000 going into final jeopardy of game 2 and you can make up that delta. He had about a $6-7,000 lead with one more daily double on the board. It was under a lower value clue so had he found it, he could have bet big (he had $14-15,000 at the time). But Jaskaran found it (got it right to close the gap) and the game was over at that point.
Raymond and Jaskaran were actively hunting the daily doubles. Liz was not. Once Raymond and Liz were down big in the first game, they really needed to find daily doubles. No doubt there is some luck involved in finding them but getting correct answers (and thus having control over the board) increases your odds.
I think Liz realized she was not going to be able to compete with Jaskaran and Raymond, so she just decided to enjoy the ride (like Raymond said, $50K isn’t bad!)
All three were easy to like and cheer for.
I’m so happy a Longhorn won! Yay for flagship schools! 
I think Liz knew it was an uphill battle for her. She needed to have categories/clues and daily doubles fall her way. Once they didn’t she knew she was playing for fun.
But she wasn’t playing for daily doubles in her earlier games either. Since James, many successful contestants hunt for daily doubles and bet big on them when they find them. Other contestants still play in the traditional top down approach. That is fine but if you are going against someone hunting for daily doubles and building a big lead, you have to return serve with the same. Ken pretty much begged a few contestants during Amy’s run to bet big. Some did but others didn’t. Its interesting to see the dynamics of different players.
All 3 contestants were definitely very likeable. Was an enjoyable tournament to watch. Lot of impressive players.
And it was funny to hear Liz say after the periodic table Final Jeopardy that she hadn’t done science in 6 years. And Jaskaran starting to write the same answer she did (Francium) and saying to himself “No way that can be right.” Was impressed he got that one right. Didn’t look like he did while he was writing his answer. Raymond knew immediately.
Will get to see Jaskaran again in the ToC for his year. And the Stanford kid in the second chance tournament.
It really irks me when players do not play to win. If betting it all would bring you close to the lead, why not? You’re guaranteed at least $1000. Betting all but $500 is foolish. Sometimes I think the goal is to be around for Final Jeopardy, even with no chance of winning. If the champ has $15K, what difference does it make if you enter Final with $5K or $5?
Not betting it all early in the game is also foolish.
As far as Liz goes, as a retired science teacher/administrator, I cringed when she said she’d had no science courses for SIX YEARS! That means she took the mininum in HS (9-10th grade) and NONE at Northeastern. Not sure how she got around distribution requirements. As a bio/chem major I was forced to take social science courses in college, but as a poly sci major she takes NO science? Ugh. No wonder science illiteracy plagues this nation.
A minor point but a number of Northeastern students attend for 5 years and do a co-op program so she may have had 3 years of science in HS. But still…
Well done. I wonder how he’ll do in the ToC.