It is an honor and a privilege as the NC delegate to GSNN to welcome you back to my neck of the woods, Raleigh, North Carolina, for week two of Jeopardy!'s 2005 College Championship. Nine collegians have made it this far, but at the end of Friday's show, there will only be one. That one will win a nice trophy, an even nicer check, $100,000, and an even nicer than that berth in the next Tournament of Champions for a quarter-mill. No more wild cards or second chances this go around... It's win... or go home.

The second place winner is guaranteed at least $50,000 and third-place is ensured $25,000. All of this week's semifinalists are guaranteed at least $10,000. Any and all monies, as always, depend on how far the player moves up the bracket.

So far, Jayanth Iyengar of Washington-St. Louis is ready for the final. Who will join him? Tonight, the second of the three semifinals...

NICO MARTINEZ Bloomfield Hills, MI Junior, Stanford	BEN GOLDMAN Bala Cynwyd, PA Sophomore, NYU	ALISON JENIK New York City Junior, Maryland

Jeopardy! categories: Dukes Bedeviled, All the Rave, Dead Scientists Society, Government & Politics, Step Into the Study, New Superheroes & Villains

Daily Double: $600 Dead Scientists Society. Alison (tied with Ben at $200) bets the max of $1000. The clue: in 1867 this British surgeon published "On the Antiseptic Principle in the Practice of Surgery". Alison's response: "Who is Lister?" Correct for $1200.

End of round:
Nico - $6600
Ben - $2200
Alison - $2600

Double Jeopardy! categories: Composers, An English-Snowboarding Dictionary, State the Geographic Center, Famous Pairs, Means of Transmission, Number Please

Daily Double #1: $1200 Composers. Ben ($3000 to Nico's $7000 and Alison's $2600) goes all-in. The clue: Rikard Nordraak, who composed this country's national anthem, was a friend of Edvard Grieg. Ben's response: "What is Norway?" Correct for $6000!

Daily Double #2: $800 Number Please. Nico ($18,200 over Ben's $11,200 and Alison's -$1800) fronts $3000. The clue: the standard measure of visual acuity is based on standing this many feet from an eye chart. Nico's response: "What is 20?" Correct for $21,200.

End of round:
Nico - $22,400
Ben - $13,200
Alison - $600

Nico and Ben cannot wager more than $21,201 and $12,001 respectively, otherwise they stand in great danger of ceding their slot in the final to Alison. Nico is still the odds-on favorite, only having to wager $4001 in order to block Ben out. All of this of course is provided that he knows enough about...

Final Jeopardy! category: 2005 Commencement Speeches. The clue: speaking at his alma mater, he urged graduates to be voracious readers, donate to worthy causes, and stay in Maine. Correct response: Who was Stephen King?

Alison's question: Who is B. Williams? (WRONG) Wager: $595. Final score: $5.
Ben's question: Who is Howard Dean? (WRONG) Wager: $13,199. Final score: $1.
Nico's question: Who is Stephen King? (RIGHT) Wager: $4001. Final score: $26,401. FINALIST

IT WAS OVER WHEN...  for Alison, when she dipped into negative numbers with only a handful of clues left on the board. For Ben and Nico, it was over when Nico did the math in his head to only wager what he had to. So Nico, one of our favorites to go all the way, is one step closer to that goal.

Tomorrow, Beth, Adam, and Peter will compete for that final slot.