Columbia Looks to 'Reverse the Curse' in NBC College Bowl Revival

A group of three undergraduate Columbia students will be among 12 teams to compete in a revival of the 1960s quiz show College Bowl this month on NBC.

In each show, teams of three must work together to answer questions. The top two schools advance to the final, where they compete head-to-head for the Capital One College Bowl trophy and a scholarship. Students from Columbia College and SEAS will compete on the university's squad against teams from University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Ole Miss, Morehouse College, University of Tennessee, University of Southern California, UCLA, University of Virginia, and Xavier of Louisiana.

Football superstar Peyton Manning will be flexing his game show-hosting muscles alongside his older brother, Cooper Manning.

The show premieres June 22, at 10 p.m. ET, but the first episode to feature Columbia University's team will air on June 29 at 10 p.m. Get ready to cheer on your Lions!

Now, for a little bit of throwback trivia: Columbia competed in the first-ever College Bowl match in 1953, losing to Northwestern University 135-60. Barnard College appeared on the show during the following season.

“Hopefully we can reverse the curse!” said Shomik Ghose (SEAS’23), one of this year’s team members.

You can also read about the Columbia winners of the 1966-1967 College Bowl, who spoke with Columbia College Today.