After eight games’ worth of incredibly close competition, we have our three finalists, who will play in a TWO-DAY TOTAL POINT AFFAIR Thursday and Friday for $100,000. Second place gets $50,000 and third $25,000.
Here are your three finalists:
| Sarah Dubnik Senior, University of Pittsburgh Jamison, PA  QF: 17 R, 1 W, 2/2 DDs, $11,600 Coryat SF: 22 R, 1 W, 2/2 DDs, $15,400 Coryat |
Niki Peters Sophomore, University of California, Berkeley Boise, ID  QF: 25 R, 2 W, 1/1 DDs, $20,200 Coryat SF: 17 R, 3 W, 2/2 DDs, $14,000 Coryat |
Sam Deutsch Junior, University of Southern California Bethesda, MD  QF: 17 R, 2 W, 1/1 DDs, $12,400 Coryat SF: 17 R, 1 W, 0/0 DDs, $12,800 Coryat |
Andy’s Thoughts: If everyone was at 100%, I’d say that Niki would be a distinct favorite in this match (in fact, I’d even peg her as an early favorite in the ToC if she wins this final). Unfortunately, as Niki has mentioned, she was not at 100%. (Being that this is the College Tournament, definitely shades of Joe Montana at the 1979 Cotton Bowl here.) Sarah just came off a very impressive performance in both buzzer and knowledge against Ziad Ali, a player who many felt could have done very well. Sam has probably had the least amount of luck on the buzzer thus far in two games, but as Ben Ingram showed in the 2014 ToC, all you need is to be in the game to have a shot! I expect that things will be very close between all three players. I’d say that if this final were played 10 times, that Niki would take 4 and that Sarah and Sam would take 3. Best of retroactive luck!