Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions

Updated on Oct 21, 2023

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The Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions was a special 15-week single-elimination tournament that aired during the 21st season of the syndicated game show Jeopardy! that began airing on February 9, 2005 and concluded on May 25, 2005, covering 76 shows in total. The tournament involved 145 contestants, all of whom were winners of past tournaments or past five-time champions, and was designed to produce two contestants who would face off in a three-game, cumulative-score final against legendary Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings, who had won the most money in Jeopardy! regular play history and who (entering the tournament) had set a new all-time game show winnings record with US $2,522,700. Those three contestants would then play in a three-game final for the largest prize the show has ever offered: an unprecedented grand prize of U.S. $2,000,000.

After four rounds, the tournament's field of 144 past champions was winnowed to two: Brad Rutter and Jerome Vered. Rutter had set the previous all-time Jeopardy! prize money record in the 2002 Million Dollar Masters tournament, while Vered had set a single-day winnings record in 1992 that (if adjusted for the doubling of clue values) stood for twelve years until Jennings (in his 38th game) broke it.

Rutter decisively won the three-game final, claiming the tournament title and the $2,000,000 prize, while Jennings finished second and collected $500,000, with Vered finishing third and taking home $250,000. All in all, the tournament's contestants won a combined grand total of $5,604,413.

Tournament format

145 contestants participated in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions; they consisted of five-time champions and tournament winners from the show's first 21 seasons. Contestants that were not tournament winners were invited in order of money won on the program until a full field was filled, with Bill Dickenson invited last with $48,401 won in his (pre-doubled) reign. Players who competed before the show doubled its prize amounts had their winnings adjusted as appropriate.

Contestants that won a tournament or more than $48,401 in a 5 day reign that did not compete in the UTOC included 5 day champions Larry McKnight and Leslie Shannon (Miller), Teen Tournament winners Michael Block & Amanda Goad, and all living Seniors Tournament winners. As well, 1985 Tournament Of Champions winner Jerry Frankel and 1992 5 day champion Richard Kaplan had previously died, hence their absence.

Note: Totals given are from regular play, five games unless noted. Tournament winnings are used instead if player initially appeared in a tournament. Undefeated champions from Seasons 14–19 won cars. From Seasons 14–17, undefeated champions had their choice of one or two Chevrolet cars. Seasons 18–19 undefeated champions won Jaguars.

College Champions won Dodge cars from 1993 until 1994, Volvo cars from 1995 until 2003, and a Volkswagen in 2004.

The winners of the 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003 Teen Tournament won a Chevrolet Cavalier, a Chevrolet Tracker, a Mitsubishi Eclipse GS Convertible, and a Volkswagen New Beetle.

Jeopardy! went to a straight cash format in 2003 and eliminated automobile prizes for Season 20.

Contestant with bye to Final Round

As the most successful contestant in Jeopardy! regular season history, Ken Jennings received a bye to the three-game championship.

Contestants with bye to Round 2

Members of the "Nifty Nine" were selected based on records set in their Jeopardy! careers. Only 2 of the 9 (Brad Rutter and Frank Spangenberg) advanced beyond their initial round (they all received an extra $15,000 at the end of their games).

Contestants who started in Round 1

135 of the 145 contestants involved in the tournament started in the first round.

Tournament results

The tournament's twenty highest finishers are shown below in order of prize money won.

Round 1 results

Round 1, which started on February 9, 2005 and ended on April 12, 2005, featured 135 contestants competing for entry into Round 2.

Unlike most Jeopardy! tournaments, in which only the final rounds are played for cash equal to the value of winners' scores, the winners of every match received their scores as winnings (or the guaranteed minimum for that round, whichever was greater). In addition, for each round, there were no "wild card" spots for the non-winners; it was "win or go home".

Round 2 results

Round 2, which started on April 13 and finished on May 6, featured the 45 winners from Round 1 as well as nine new contestants.

Round 3 (Quarterfinal) results

Round 3, which began on May 9 and ended on May 16, featured the "Elite 18" (Round 2 winners) competing for entry into the semifinals.

Round 4 (Semifinal) results

Round 4, which began on May 17 and ended on May 20, featured the six winners from Round 3 competing in two-game matches for entry into the finals.

Round 5 (Final) results

Round 5, which aired on May 23, 24, and 25, featured Round 4 champions Brad Rutter and Jerome Vered competing against Ken Jennings in a three-game final for $2,000,000. Rutter won the match in a runaway and displaced Jennings as television's largest game show winner in history at the time (Rutter, by virtue of the tournament set up and the elimination of Bernie Cullen in the first round, was the only player who could have done so). However, Jennings later reclaimed that distinction by winning $500,000 on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in October 2008, only to lose it again after coming in second to Rutter in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades (May 2014).

Reruns

During the offseason between Seasons 21 and 22, select matches from the Ultimate Tournament of Champions were aired as part of the slate of Jeopardy! summer reruns. In addition to its then-recent acquisition of episodes from seasons 20 & 21, GSN also acquired the rights to air the entire Ultimate Tournament of Champions, with the episodes beginning their airings on December 11, 2008. The 2006 DVD release Jeopardy!: An Inside Look at America's Favorite Quiz Show features all three final round games of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in their entirety.