A University of Texas at Austin senior is celebrating his recent $250,000 “Jeopardy!” win the best way he knows how.
“No chance I’m going to class tomorrow,” said Jaskaran Singh, a senior finance and economics double major at UT’s McCombs School of Business.
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Singh, 21, of Plano, Texas, took the title for the “Jeopardy! National College Championship” after betting nothing in “Final Jeopardy!” in the second game after he entered the match with a lead of $32,400, according to a news release from UT. The second place contestant had $13,200.
In the end, Singh had a cumulative total of $51,700 to runner-up Raymond Goslow, of Kennesaw State, with $46,999.
In celebration of Singh’s victory, the UT Tower was turned orange, according to a tweet from UT Austin President Jay Hartzell.
I’ll take “UT Champions” for $250,000, Mayim!🤘
— Jay Hartzell (@JCHartzell) February 23, 2022
Outstanding work, @jsinghmlk 👏 We’re turning the Tower orange to celebrate your win in the #JeopardyCollegeChampionship. Longhorns everywhere are proud tonight! Hook ’em! pic.twitter.com/ocOHMxBiEa
Singh claimed victory in a quarterfinals “Jeopardy!” match before he advanced to the semifinals, and then the final episode, which aired Tuesday, Feb. 22.
He took to social media just a day after his victory, giving thanks to the show and for his support system throughout the process.
want to shout out all of the other contestants for being some of the nicest people I've met (except alfred smh). Thanks to the Jeopardy staff for making us look pretty and bringing us all together. Not much left to say besides hook 'em and catch me in the Tournament of Champions!
— Jaskaran Singh (@jsinghmlk) February 23, 2022
The UT Men’s Basketball team also celebrated Singh’s win with an impromptu dance in the locker room on Wednesday.
“It’s not every day you get to have the @Jeopardy National Champion in your locker room,” the team said in a tweet.
hell of a game (and postgame!), thanks @TexasMBB. ill have a better dance for monday don’t worry https://t.co/JTd9BjFD3f
— Jaskaran Singh (@jsinghmlk) February 24, 2022
In an interview with university officials, Singh said his involvement with “Jeopardy!” stemmed from his passion for trivia. He’s also currently on UT’s Quiz Bowl team.
“Even though I haven’t watched the show in a long time, I’ve been tangentially involved with trivia since high school. I was on the Quiz Bowl team, and we won the national championship. I’m also on UT’s Quiz Bowl team, and we’re competing in nationals in April, in person for the first time in years, which should be a lot of fun,” Singh said.
As for his career after graduation, he said he’ll be working with Boston Consulting Group in Dallas.
“I did an internship with Boston Consulting Group in Dallas, and they’ve brought me back full time, so I’ll start with them after graduation. Now I’m taking just one computer science class to finish out my minor, Russian as an adjunct to my economics double major, and a bunch of history classes I’ve wanted to take. I had 250 requests on LinkedIn last week, and I have to find time to go through those. I’d prefer to keep everything low key, but my parents are urging me to post and get people watching,” Singh said.
You can learn more about Singh and his victory here.