Time To Buzz In: UTRGV History Lecturer Advances In Jeopardy! Wildcard Tournament

By Amanda L. Alaniz

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – JAN. 13, 2025 – For Dr. William Yancey, a UTRGV history lecturer, the dream of appearing on Jeopardy! began long ago.

Growing up, he would sit in front of the television with a ballpoint pen, pretending it was his buzzer, practicing for a moment like this. Now, he’s taking his shot at the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament, proving that academia can be both intellectually stimulating and entertaining.

“I’ve been watching Jeopardy! since I was 13 years old,” he said. “My grandmother was a fan too, and she used to watch it with me to see if I could answer the questions right.”

Yancey, a lecturer II in History, advanced to the semifinals in the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament on Monday.

He made his first appearance on Jeopardy!, the iconic trivia game show, in September 2024. He finished in third place after missing the Final Jeopardy question about “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” a middle-grade book series featuring half-human and half-demigod characters.

Although he did not walk away a winner, he gained a potential reading goal for the future. Yancey shared his friends and family teased him about getting the series as a gift for him.
“I said, ‘If y’all buy it, I’ll read it,’” Yancey said. “I still haven’t gotten the series. I may read it anyway now.”

A SECOND CHANCE
While Yancey ended that round in third place, his Jeopardy! journey didn’t end at that buzzer. Yancey received a call to participate in the Jeopardy! Second Chance Tournament, a special two-week event showcasing contestants who did not with their regular games.

Yancey won two rounds, advancing to the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament, an event where wildcard players compete for a chance at a spot in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.

“I got that last Final Jeopardy question right, and I looked over and I could see the other contestant scores,” he recalled. “I looked out to my wife, and she had her head buried in her hands because she was way more nervous than I was. I think I said ‘Wow, it’s hard to believe.’”

LET THE GAMES BEGIN
Competing on the game show has always been a personal goal for Yancey, who has been a fan for about 40 years. He mentioned that he had tried out for the show years prior before finally making it to Alex Trebek’s stage.

Walking into the studio where the legendary game show host Alex Trebek stood for decades was an unbelievable feeling for Yancey. He said it didn’t truly hit him that he was on Jeopardy! until he stood behind the podium, holding the buzzer.

“You go through a couple of practice runs to get used to the buzzer and get used to being on stage. It was definitely a sense of, ‘Wow, this is a big deal,’” he said.

A key rule of the game is that contestants must wait until the question is fully read before answering in the form of a question.

While he achieved his lifelong goal of being on Jeopardy!, Yancey felt something was missing – he wished his grandmother could see him on that stage.

“The first thing she would tell me is, ‘I’m proud of you.’ The second thing she’d tell me is, ‘Don’t brag about it, because this doesn’t make you better than anybody else,’” he said. “She was a very humble lady.”
A cultural phenomenon, the game show averages about 9 million viewers.

REPRESENTING UTRGV
For Yancey, representing UTRGV means a lot, and he finds the online support he has received the last couple of weeks encouraging.

“Anybody in our department could probably go and do this. It means a lot to represent UTRGV on a national stage, that’s big,” he said. “And being able to say, ‘Look, you know you can come out of the Valley, and you can do anything.’ That means a whole lot.”

Be sure to tune in to see Yancey buzzing in on Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament tonight at 6 p.m. on the local NBC station.

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