OK, so, after a rather sluggish first round, this year's UC looks to have got into gear in the second round, with, yes, some rather one sided walkovers, but some good close matches as well, and, at the end of it all, we have a pretty strong line-up for the always controversial quarter-final stage.
Our eight quarter-finalists are, in order of qualication and alongside their overall and average scores:
- St John's College Cambridge (550 over three matches, 183.33)
- Emmanuel College Cambridge (440 over three matches, 146.67)
- Edinburgh (455 over two matches, 227.5)
- Trinity College Cambridge (425 over two matches, 212.5)
- Reading (420 over two matches, 210)
- King's College London (280 over two matches, 140)
- Birmingham (470 over two matches, 235)
- Imperial College London (415 over two matches, 207.5)
Well, firstly, I would earmark Edinburgh as the main favourites, given they had easily the highest score of the first round, and then won the best match of the second round over the excellent Bristol team, holding their nerve to do so after their opponents so nearly pipped them at the end. A well balanced team with all four players contributing on the buzzer, they will definitely start as favourites.
After them, we have Birmingham and Trinity; while their comfortable first round victories could've been said at the time to be due to being against weaker opponents, their equally emphtic second round victories over proven decent teams (both of whom defeated teams who survived to the play-offs in the first round) shows they are definitely teams worthy of consideration as favourites.
Then we have Imperial, who defeated fellow quarter-finalists St John's in the first round comfortably, then also had a comfortable second round win in which they were excellent on the buzzers again. St John's themselves went on to a close scare in the play-offs against U.C.L., but recovered nicely with a comfortable win over Queen Mary. Reading also relied mainly on the buzzer work of their captain Mr Hutchinson in both their two comfortable wins so far. Any of these three teams are certainly capable of being worthy semi-finalists in the right circumstances.
And finally, we have King's, the lowest scoring quarter-finalists so far, who had a low scoring slow start, but a better and decent second showing, and Emmanuel, another team who survived through the play-offs and who also have a low scoring close win and a decent but not spectacular comfortable win to their names. They will both probably start as underdogs, but both are certainly capable of making a mockery of that status.
As usual, I suspect it will probably come down to who plays who when, which has been quite crucial when it comes to who progresses to the semis in the past; a tough draw could see one team go out sooner than they might've with a more favourable one. If the last few years are any guide, the first two games will be Reading vs King's and Birmingham vs Imperial, but we shall have to wait and see.
One thing we do is that there are no Oxford teams in the draw; as I've said before on Twitter, only the second time Oxford has been wiped out before the QFs, and the first time one of Oxford or Cambridge has been so since the 2006-07 series. In contrast, Cambridge has three teams through, and London two, thought only one of them still belongs to the University of London.
So, in short, there are three teams I'd probably back to reach the semis, and two I probably wouldn't, but, as usual, anything can happen; time and time again, ante post favourites have faltered in the QFs while unfancied teams have flourished. In many ways, the first two rounds (and the semis and final) are a straight sprint for the line, but the QFs are more of a marathon, very much about durability and sticking power as much as quizzing prowess.
In short, any of the eight quarter-finalists could reach the semis. Best of luck to all of them, and here's hoping the QFs continue the momentum this series has!
Back tomorrow with my usual Monday night write-up; see yous then I guess...
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