Jeopardy!: Ike Barinholtz Confirmed for Tournament of Champions, First Celebrity Contestant in ToC History to Compete

Jeopardy!‘s strike-delayed Tournament of Champions is getting celebritized.

Sony announced Tuesday that this year’s contest — which kicks off Friday, Feb. 23 — will feature among its contestants Celebrity Jeopardy! breakout Ike Barinholtz. This will be the first time ToC will welcome a champion from ABC’s starry primetime spinoff.

Barinholtz, whose credits include The Mindy Project and Apple TV+’s The Afterparty, competed on Celebrity Jeopardy! Season 1 and made it all the way to the February 2023 finale, where he faced off against Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens). He won the final, earning $1 million for Hollygrove.

Prior to Celebrity Jeopardy!, Barinholtz competed on a 2020 episode of ABC’s celeb edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (hosted by Jimmy Kimmel) and took home $125,000 for charity.

In the 2024 Tournament of Champions, which Sony says boasts “the biggest field in ToC history,” Barinholtz will compete alongside 26 “regular” Jeopardy! champions. (His quarterfinals episode airs March 4; see full schedule below.) The contestant field features the players who won the most games since the last Tournament of Champions in 2022, plus six players who advanced out of the Season 37/38 and Season 39 Champions Wildcard competitions, as well as the winners of the Jeopardy! High School Reunion Tournament.

Players will compete across nine quarterfinal games, three semifinals, and a “best of seven” finals series. The first champion to win three games claims the $250,000 grand prize and an invitation to compete in the upcoming Jeopardy! Masters primetime event on ABC.

The list of returning champions and the competition schedule is as follows:

Fri., Feb 23: Quarterfinal 1

Suresh Krishnan, a 6-game champion from Suwanee, Ga.

Matthew Marcus, a 4-game champion from Portland, Ore.

*Emily Sands, a 3-game champion and S37/38 Champions Wildcard winner from Chanhassen, Minn.

Mon., Feb. 26: Quarterfinal 2

Ben Goldstein, a 5-game champion from Dexter, Mich.

Cris Pannullo, a 21-game champion from Ocean City, N.J.

Jared Watson, a 3-game champion from Greenville, Texas

Tues., Feb. 27: Quarterfinal 3

David Sibley, a 4-game champion from Walla Walla, Wash.

*Yungsheng Wang, 3-game champion and S37/38 Champions Wildcard winner originally from Lafayette, La.

Hannah Wilson, an 8-game champion from Chicago, Ill.

Weds., Feb. 28: Quarterfinal 4

*Nick Cascone, a 1-game champion and S37/38 Champions Wildcard winner originally from Queens, N.Y.

Jake DeArruda, a 3-game champion originally from Ludlow, Vt.

Yogesh Raut, a 3-game champion from Vancouver, Wash.

Thurs., Feb. 29: Quarterfinal 5

Kevin Belle, a 3-game champion from Silver Spring, Md.

Luigi de Guzman, a 5-game champion from Arlington, Va.

*Juveria Zaheer, a S39 Second Chance winner and S39 Champions Wildcard winner from Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Fri., Mar. 1: Quarterfinal 6

Brian Henegar, a 3-game champion from LaFollette, Tenn.

*Josh Saak, a 3-game champion and S37/38 Champions Wildcard winner from Boise, Idaho

Stephen Webb, an 8-game champion from Longmont, Colo.

Mon., Mar. 4: Quarterfinal 7

Ike Barinholtz, “Celebrity Jeopardy!” Season 1 champion from Chicago, Ill.

Melissa Klapper, a 3-game champion from Merion Station, Pa.

Ray Lalonde, a 13-game champion from Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tues., Mar. 5: Quarterfinal 8

Justin Bolsen, JEOPARDY! High School Reunion Tournament champion from Canton, Ga.

Ben Chan, a 9-game champion from Green Bay, Wisc.

Emmett Stanton, a 3-game champion from Baltimore, Md.

Weds., Mar. 6: Quarterfinal 9

Sean McShane, a 3-day champion from South Boston, Ma.

Troy Meyer, a 6-day champion from Tampa, Fla.

*S39 Champions Wildcard Winner TBD

The broadcast schedule for the semifinals and finals is as follows:

Thurs., Mar. 7: Semifinal 1

Fri., Mar. 8: Semifinal 2

Mon., Mar. 11: Semifinal 3

Tues., Mar. 12: Finals Game 1

Weds., Mar. 13: Finals Game 2

Thurs., Mar. 14: Finals Game 3

Fri., Mar. 15: Finals Game 4 (if needed)

Mon., Mar. 18: Finals Game 5 (if needed)

Tues., Mar. 19: Finals Game 6 (if needed)

Weds., Mar. 20: Finals Game 7 (if needed)