After a five-episode winning streak, $105,915 in winnings and a call to make a return for the seasons-end “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions,” Ben Ganger made a swift exit on the first episode of the tournament. 

The episode that aired on Wednesday, Jan. 21 also led to Goshen College and community support and a watch party at The Fold, a restraunt and bar in downtown Goshen. 

Ben Ganger ’16, a GC and Bowling Green State University graduate, first made an impression on national television when he went on his five-day winning streak in late spring of 2025, and the impressive display didn’t go unnoticed by the Goshen community. This led to his nickname, “Goshen Genius.” 

Landing an interview with the Goshen Public Library and an article and interview in the South Bend Tribune, Ganger saw his notoriety increase overnight.

Ganger also cited GC as an important precursor to his Jeopardy appearances. “Liberal art institutions like Goshen College are excellent for people who are curious about a broad range of things,” he said.

Concerning the results of Wednesday night’s episode, Ganger said, “It was the quarterfinal of the tournament, and it was single-elimination and so I got singly-eliminated.” This was his second appearance on “Jeopardy!”

The “Tournament of Champions” has changed from its initial format, running whenever there were enough participants, to its current format of running at the end of every season. 

“They take the top 18 or so players from the most recent qualification period … if you win five or more games you automatically qualify … functionally, if you win four games there’s no way you don’t go to the tournament, and even anymore if you only win three games you still have a 50/50 shot,” Ganger said.

Ganger also provided more insight into the process of recording and the strategy of playing with more experience. 

“I lost on Wednesday’s episode … I played the game I wanted, I told myself I would rather play aggressively and hope it worked out for the win and I didn’t know the Daily Doubles I found,” he said. 

This time around there was also more time for Ganger to enjoy himself during the recording. “This one there was a bunch of extra time built into the week, especially if you lost your first game … they also put all [the contestants] up in the same hotel and so every night … we were hanging out with some set of the TOC contestants. I made a lot of really good friends,” Ganger said. 

Goshen has also shown support for Ganger, both times he made appearances on “Jeopardy!,” with the most recent run being marked by a watch party in the downtown Goshen area. 

“It’s been so cool, very heartwarming,” Ganger said,  “It’s great to be associated with something so positive and I’m really glad to be from a town like this. I feel the love and I love the town back.”