University Challenge 2019-20: Second Round Review and Quarter-Final Preview

OK, so here we are once again, at the start of the quarter-finals. It's been an OK series thus far, hasn't quite hit the heights of previous years, but its still been good and watchable, and we have eight good quarter-finalists who I strongly suspect will give us a good rest of the series.

So, here, in order of qualification and with their overall and average scores so far, are our last eight teams:

• Jesus College Oxford (465 over three matches, 155)
• Durham (630 over three matches, 210)
• Courtauld Institute of Art (325 over two matches, 162.5)
• Imperial College London (510 over two matches, 255)
• Manchester (390 over two matches, 195)
• Trinity College Cambridge (445 over two matches, 222.5)
• Wolfson College Oxford (390 over two matches, 195)
• Corpus Christi College Cambridge (465 over two matches, 232.5)

So, that's what the raw stats tell us; they, as usual, are only half the story, let's look over them in greater detail.

Well, for the first time since the 2011-12 series (a most underrated series, as I'll get to in my Review of the Decade), both teams that came through the repechage have reached the group stage. Jesus lost to Manchester first time around, before narrowly beating the fancied Sheffield in the play-offs and then Birmingham in the second round. Both were close wins though; I fancy they'll need to up their game to progress to the semis.

Durham, meanwhile, after losing to Trinity first time around, impressively defeated York in the play-offs and then Southampton in the second round, both by very big margins. They have responded well following their early lapse, and I would probably place among the early favourites for the semis, though we do know, from their first match, that they can be vulnerable.

As for their two conquerors, both comfortably won their second round matches, Manchester recovering from a slow start to beat Huddersfield, while Trinity eased to victory over Lady Margaret Hall. Of the two, I would probably say Trinity are better bets for the semis, having twice comfortably beaten teams who we know to be good in their own right.

As for the others, Imperial would probably be strongly fancied, having twice run up the same score of 255 and been very impressive in having done so. Corpus Christi have twice triumphed over good opposition, and are definitely not to be written off. So too have and are Wolfson, though given their seeming reliance on captain Ms Jones, there are understandable questions over what could happen if the starters don't fall for her.

Courtauld were the surprise packages of the second round, defeating the fancied Glasgow team, and well too. They will likely start the QFs as outsiders, but are definitely not worth totally writing off.

So, who do I think will go through? Well, it's had to call, as there are five obvious stand out teams, and three outsiders who are definitely worth keeping an eye on. I honestly cannot say who I think will be the final four; any of them would deserve it and could feasibly do it if things go their way.

As with many past series, I suspect it will be a question of who plays who when; last series, for example, Emmanuel were undone by having to play St Edmund Hall and Darwin in successive matches, otherwise I suspect they'd have made at least the play-offs.

Mr Green of Manchester has told me he believes Manchester are playing again on Monday; my guess is they'll play Trinity, followed by Wolfson vs Corpus Christi, and a random draw among the other four. It will probably depend on the rest of the draw who goes through, but we shall have to wait and see.

Now, time for the annual diversity check. Three all male teams are through to the QFs, two with one, and three exactly half and half. Oxford and Cambridge have two teams each through, while London and the North of England account for two each of the other four. Thus, for the first time since 2015-16, we have an all England final eight.

That's pretty much it for now then. As usual, I wish the eight quarter-finalists the best of (retrospective) luck and hope for an excellent set of quarter-finals!

Back on Monday with my usual UC write-up. And look out for a new series starting on my Second Blog soon; keep watching Twitter for details.