Thanks so much for the quick upload. Wow, the winners were impressive with strong answers to difficult questions. I'm really looking forward to what is sure to be an exciting final!!
Another Oxbridge final. I really don't understand it. The gap in the qualities of students at Oxbridge and the other universities must be truly immense.
I'd put it more down to the fact that Oxford and Cambridge have so many entries. Each of their schools effectively gets an entry whereas the smaller Universities (such as Newcastle here) only have one entry. Granted the brighter students will most likely go to Oxbridge, and that slight advantage will push them past the post, the fact that they have sometimes 4x as many entries means that they are most likely to get to the final and win
Thanks for your comment. I had thought about that. It still doesn't fully explain it (unless you think the teams are quite equal and luck plays a big part). One would think the best 4 persons from Newcastle should be able to beat most Oxbridge teams (because Newcastle can select from tens of thousands, while an Oxbridge college only a few hundred). This year this is probably true (Newcastle is quite a strong team in my opinion). But they couldn't really challenge Merton much. The other non-Oxbridge semi-finalist, Edinburgh, reached where they were with very small winning margins and got hammered by St John's Cambridge. In the end, I have to accept that the best team from Oxford or Cambridge is vastly superior than the best team from any other university.
A huge reason is that most university students do not give a toss about going on a university quiz show. They are mostly there to experience university (going out, meeting new people as well as furthering their education to improve employments prospects). This further reduces the pools of students to select from. However, Oxbridge students are usually a different breed. They care more about demonstrating their academic ability and have a genuine desire to work very hard (studying for their course on top of learning facts for such a show). In terms of intelligence, there will be very little between Oxbridge and other good universities (say top 20) just Oxbridge will work harder and care much more about academia. As they have a reputation to uphold, they are further driven due to the potential embarrassment around the university. Lastly, very few universities have a rigorous selection process for the best people... Manchester is possibly the only one outside the Oxbridge colleges.
Here are some numbers from this year (so, it might not be representative). There are 11 Oxbridge teams out of 28. In total, there are/will be 14 Oxbridge defeats, out of those 8 are by another Oxbridge teams. For a defeated Oxbridge team, it has somewhat higher chance of being beaten by another Oxbridge team (~=8/14=57%) than if everything stay random throughout the season (~=10/27=37%). This is because more Oxbridge teams get to the higher rounds than by chance. My opinion is that an average Oxbridge team is a little bit better than an average non-Oxbridge team. But judging from the usual bashing, a top Oxbridge team is much much better than a top non-Oxbridge team. In the end, I think that is not surprising. It´s another Oxbridge final because the top Oxbridge teams are extremely good.
Thanks so much for the quick upload. Wow, the winners were impressive with strong answers to difficult questions. I'm really looking forward to what is sure to be an exciting final!!
The big bone bash!
Newcastle is a fine (and likeable) team. Merton is a finer (and likeable) team
Neilson and noble were a good duo, 2 vs 4
Thanks for the quick upload!
"He thinks I'm a cabbage
'Cause I hate University Challenge..." The Undertones
There's gonna be a great final this year!
Absolutely!!
Thanks Mr Paxman 🇬🇧♥️
Thank you so much!!
I wonder if Americans watch this?They think Jeopardy is the hardest quiz on tv,they should watch this or Only Connect
How odd, two people disliked this. I mean, how could they? Very odd.
One was expelled from Merton, the other from Newcastle
What the hell lowery is doing? Not a single answer or suggestion he has given.
he's busy painting matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs.
I think you'll find that incorrect - with careful watching. Besides, he is one of the reasons that Newcastle made the semis, of course.
Good battle
Woodland has an insane general knowledge
simp detected
omg lowery has class hair
charlie clegg lookalike
Wiberg should be captain.
He's the most knowledgable and seems to be the best decision maker.
I can't fault Woodland. We'll have to disagree here
Another Oxbridge final. I really don't understand it. The gap in the qualities of students at Oxbridge and the other universities must be truly immense.
I'd put it more down to the fact that Oxford and Cambridge have so many entries. Each of their schools effectively gets an entry whereas the smaller Universities (such as Newcastle here) only have one entry. Granted the brighter students will most likely go to Oxbridge, and that slight advantage will push them past the post, the fact that they have sometimes 4x as many entries means that they are most likely to get to the final and win
Thanks for your comment. I had thought about that. It still doesn't fully explain it (unless you think the teams are quite equal and luck plays a big part). One would think the best 4 persons from Newcastle should be able to beat most Oxbridge teams (because Newcastle can select from tens of thousands, while an Oxbridge college only a few hundred). This year this is probably true (Newcastle is quite a strong team in my opinion). But they couldn't really challenge Merton much. The other non-Oxbridge semi-finalist, Edinburgh, reached where they were with very small winning margins and got hammered by St John's Cambridge. In the end, I have to accept that the best team from Oxford or Cambridge is vastly superior than the best team from any other university.
A huge reason is that most university students do not give a toss about going on a university quiz show. They are mostly there to experience university (going out, meeting new people as well as furthering their education to improve employments prospects). This further reduces the pools of students to select from. However, Oxbridge students are usually a different breed. They care more about demonstrating their academic ability and have a genuine desire to work very hard (studying for their course on top of learning facts for such a show). In terms of intelligence, there will be very little between Oxbridge and other good universities (say top 20) just Oxbridge will work harder and care much more about academia. As they have a reputation to uphold, they are further driven due to the potential embarrassment around the university. Lastly, very few universities have a rigorous selection process for the best people... Manchester is possibly the only one outside the Oxbridge colleges.
Your Guy. I think I agree with most if not all of your points.
Here are some numbers from this year (so, it might not be representative). There are 11 Oxbridge teams out of 28. In total, there are/will be 14 Oxbridge defeats, out of those 8 are by another Oxbridge teams. For a defeated Oxbridge team, it has somewhat higher chance of being beaten by another Oxbridge team (~=8/14=57%) than if everything stay random throughout the season (~=10/27=37%). This is because more Oxbridge teams get to the higher rounds than by chance. My opinion is that an average Oxbridge team is a little bit better than an average non-Oxbridge team. But judging from the usual bashing, a top Oxbridge team is much much better than a top non-Oxbridge team. In the end, I think that is not surprising. It´s another Oxbridge final because the top Oxbridge teams are extremely good.
the silly tart on Newcastle's team is a liability.
so unnecessarily sexist
and rude
She nailed music/art questions, pipe down.
You'd make a bad accountant