Warning: This page contains spoilers for the January 15, 2026, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category U.S. Geography) for Thursday, January 15, 2026 (Season 42, Game 94):
The 2 states that border the most others, they border each other along a roughly 60-mile stretch between Kentucky & Arkansas
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Stella Trout, a software engineer originally from Houston, Texas
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Jonathan Hugendubler, an adjunct professor & trivia host from Baltimore, Maryland
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Cameron Berry, a data analyst & college administrator from Brighton, Massachusetts
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
We are now down to 3 in Champions Wildcard, as one of Cameron Berry, Jonathan Hugendubler, and Stella Trout will claim the last spot in the Tournament of Champions. As a 2-day total-point final, today’s final scores get added to tomorrow’s in order to determine the overall champion of Champions Wildcard.
Here are your stats for all three players entering today’s game:
Cameron:
86 correct, 14 incorrect
6/9 on rebound attempts (on 15 rebound opportunities)
36.40% in first on buzzer (83/228)
4/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $17,200)
2/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,350
Jonathan:
91 correct, 16 incorrect
6/6 on rebound attempts (on 27 rebound opportunities)
30.88% in first on buzzer (88/285)
7/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $37,400)
3/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,240
Stella:
82 correct, 9 incorrect
5/5 on rebound attempts (on 28 rebound opportunities)
32.44% in first on buzzer (73/225)
7/9 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $11,400)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,950
The Unified Prediction Model has Jonathan as a very slight favorite, but all three players are so close in rating that you can safely say that this final will be too close to call.
I would also like to thank the show for putting up the information about next week’s Tournament of Champions on the website—you can see my quarterfinals preview on Sunday!
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What are Missouri & Tennessee?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2026 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
Missouri borders 8 states—Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska—while Tennessee also borders 8—Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. The Missouri–Tennessee border itself is due to the Missouri Bootheel, an area south of 36º30′ that was given to Missouri at statehood instead of Arkansas; there are numerous apocryphal stories as to why this was the case.
Even as a Canadian, the “between Kentucky and Arkansas” part of this Final Jeopardy made this a very straightforward Final Jeopardy clue for me; I suspect that this will be similar for many others.
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Game Recap:
Stella Trout picked up $6,000 on a Daily Double to take a slim $2,800 lead into Day 2 of the final; Cameron Berry sits second and Jonathan Hugendubler third after Jonathan struggled today.
Scores going into Final:
Stella $16,800
Cameron $16,400
Jonathan $600
Tonight’s results:
Jonathan $600 + $600 = $1,200 (What are Missouri and Tennessee?)
Cameron $16,400 – $6,400 = $10,000 (What Ohio and Tennessee?)
Stella $16,800 – $4,000 = $12,800 (What is Tennessee + Nebraska?)
Chances of winning Champions Wildcard:
Stella Trout 43.361%
Cameron Berry 36.306%
Jonathan Hugendubler 20.333%
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Because today’s scores get added to tomorrow’s final scores (and tomorrow’s scores can be doubled in Final Jeopardy still), Stella has an “effective lead” of $1,400 over Cameron and $5,800 over Jonathan.
- No wagering suggestions will be posted today due to today being Game 1 of a final.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
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