‘Jeopardy!’ Bosses Reveal Postseason Schedule — What’s Changing

Get ready to see familiar faces return to your screens in 2026. Jeopardy! bosses Sarah Whitcomb-Foss and Michael Davies have explained the post-season Schedule and what is changing within the shows. They sat down for an episode of their podcast, Inside Jeopardy!, which was posted on the game show‘s Substack.

Ken Jennings is expected to return to host all of the postseason shows. He hosts the syndicated and celebrity versions as well.

Read on to find out all you need to know about Jeopardy!‘s postseason and the changes that are coming with it.

•  The Second Chance Tournament will last three weeks
  • 27 players in total, nine players per week, 15 days total for television time
• Traditional format for Champions Wildcard
  • 15 players, 10 games, two weeks, consisting of three-day champions who don’t make the Tournament of Champions
  • For two-game and one-game winners, the bosses looked at all of the criteria, like attempts, responses, competitions, scores going into finals, and Coryat score, instead of just the amount they earned
  • This is an invitational tournament of producers’ choice
• 21-player Tournament of Champions, same as 2022 and 2025
  • Top three players with the longest runs of the season get automatically placed in the semifinals

  • Six quarterfinal games to determine who will move on to the semifinal, and then the first to win three games wins the tournament

  • Celebrity Jeopardy! Season 2 and 3 champions Lisa Ann Walter and W. Kamau Bell are both expected to play
  • The rest of the competitors will be revealed later
  • Exhibition game returning
• Postseason field to be revealed on November 10 on the next Inside Jeopardy! episode.

Which post-season tournament is your favorite? And who do you hope competes in the postseason? Are you happy with the changes to them? Let us know in the comments.

Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock