University Challenge 2019-20: Semi-Finals Preview

OK, so, here we are, once again, at yet another UC semi-final stage, and, dare I say it, we have the strongest line-up of semi-finalist teams we've had in the just over ten years I've been following UC properly. They are:

• Corpus Christi College Cambridge (Alexander Russell, Will Stewart, Ian Wang and Alex Gunasekera) Won a high scoring first round match against Merton of Oxford 195-140, followed by a 270-75 thrashing of Magdalen of Oxford in the second round. Came straight through the QFs with a 180-140 win over Wolfson and a 245-80 beating of Trinity. Very strong on the buzzers, with all players contributing; bonus rate has varied from around 1/2 to 2/3.
• Imperial College London (Richard Brooks, Brandon, Caleb Rich and Connor McMeel) Consistanty racked up 255 in both their first two matches, against the 70 of Brasenose of Oxford and the 105 of St John's of Oxford respectively. A comfortable 240-75 win over Courtauld and a closely fought 185-115 win over Durham took them to the semis. Also strong on the buzzers collectively, though Brandon stands out; bonus rate usually about 2/3 as well.
• Durham (Charles Bland, William Tams, Joe Cooper and Arthur Raffle) After losing 200-145 to Trinity in the first round, came through the play-offs with a 240-145 win over York, before beating Southampton 245-95. QFs saw them beat Jesus 195-110, then lose to Imperial as above, before reaching the semis with a 205-45 win over Wolfson. Very strong jointly on the buzzer, with all four players contributing well, probably the strongest in that sense; bonus rate usually strong too.
• Trinity College Cambridge (Nadia Hourihan, Lillian Crawford, Joseph Webber and Liam Hughes) After the afore-mentioned first round win over Durham, comfortably swatted aside Lady Margaret Hall of Oxford 245-100 in the second round. A 300-95 demolition of Manchester was followed by that blip against Corpus Christi, but they recovered from that with a 285-75 win over Jesus. Mr Hughes is their standout player thus far, but his colleagues contribute well too; bonus rate solid, but usually just a touch over 1/2.

See what I mean? Any one of those four teams could realistically win the series, and I wouldn't be surprised which of them does. Also, noticeable that, despite being outnumbered with four teams to Oxford's seven, Cambridge has two teams in the semis to the other place's none; first time Oxford has had no representation in the semis since... (heads to archives to check)... 2006-07!

So, what of the draw? Well, as confirmed by Brandon on Twitter, the draw, as I speculated, pits Corpus Christi against Durham on Monday and Imperial vs Trinity the week after.

Corpus Christi vs Durham is such a potent tie, between the two best collegiate teams of the series, and two teams whose run to this stage has been largely based on their superior buzzing. Thus, this'll probably be a very straight forward case of which can outbuzz the other better, with their bonus rates usually around the same mark. Given we've seen Durham twice get outplayed by the other two SF teams, I'd probably favour Corpus Christi, but it's a tie that could go either way.

Imperial vs Trinity is another very potent tie. Both teams have a slight standout player in Brandon and Mr Hughes respectively backed up by their colleagues, and a bonus rate usually just a tad over 1/2. So, again, I fancy this match to be a fairly straight forward buzz off. Again, given that we've seen Trinity get outplayed by Corpus Christi, I'd favour Imperial slightly, but a Trinity win wouldn't surprise me either.

So, in short, I'd predict a Corpus Christi-Imperial final if pushed, but Durham and Trinity are both more than capable of making a mockery of that. This really is a high quality and well balanced semi-final line-up and draw, and any possible combination of two teams could be competing in the final, it really is that hard to call.

Best of retrospective luck to all four teams, hopefully a good end to the series!

Back on Monday with my usual write-up.