These were just two of the 16 groups of students competing in KSBI’s “Mind Games” game show, similar to “Jeopardy!”’s college tournament, but  without all the smarty-pants Ivy Leaguers. Winners receive scholarships funded by the Chickasaw Nation.

KSBI will give a portion of $200,000 in scholarships to all participants in the fall and spring tournaments.

“Every week, General Electric brought together two colleges from around America to compete in this battle of brains, and it doesn’t exist anymore,” said Vince Orza, president and CEO of KSBI. “So I said, ‘Let’s do the Oklahoma College Bowl,’ which we’ve now called ‘Mind Games.’” For the first episode — Rogers State University versus the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma — the teams had varying amounts of time to prepare for the face off. The students from RSU had only about one week to prepare, while the USAO team had been conducting semiweekly practices since the first week of the semester.

“At least from a coach’s standpoint, it was really hard to know how difficult the questions were going to be, because there are all sorts of competitions out there,” said RSU coach Jim Ford.

It was really hard to know how difficult the questions were going to be.
—Jim Ford

Most of the trivia questions are about science, history or literature, with a hint of geography, current events and popculture questions thrown in.

The RSU team, which formed through the college’s honors program and President’s Leadership Class, had a strategy to go with members’ gut feelings and not hesitate if they thought they knew an answer. Their strategy led them to victory over USAO, and they will continue on the show, in hopes of winning the whole tournament and more scholarship money.

The show, which premiered Sept. 28, airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays.

“I imagine it’s the experience that really counts,” said Andrew Robinson, RSU business junior. “It’s our first time doing this, so I’m sure the competitive side in all of us doesn’t really like to lose.”

Photo by Mark Hancock