College Bowl

A British version of the televised College Bowl competition was launched as University Challenge in 1962. The program, presented by Bamber Gascoigne, produced by Granada Television and broadcast across the ITV network, was very popular and ran until it was taken off the air in 1987. In 1994, the show was resurrected by the BBC with Jeremy Paxman (who was also hosting Newsnight at that time) as the new quizmaster. In 2022, it was announced that Amol Rajan would be taking over as host, after Paxman announced that he was stepping down due to Parkinson's disease. Since 2011, a Christmas-themed edition has also existed, titled Christmas University Challenge.

A New Zealand version of University Challenge ran from 1976 to 1989, hosted by Peter Sinclair. It had a three-year revival beginning in 2014, with Tom Conroy as host.

University Challenge in Australia ran on ABC from 1987 until 1989, hosted by Magnus Clarke.

Launched in 2007, Africa Challenge was an international championship version of College Bowl featuring schools from across the continent that finished at the top of nationwide, non-televised championship tournaments. The format for Africa Challenge was created by Richard Reid. It featured three players playing three rounds of Face-Off and Bonus questions, and it culminated in a catch-up round called the Ultimate Challenge.

The program was sponsored by the mobile phone company Celtel, its headquarters in The Netherlands. In the first year, schools from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda competed. In the second year schools from Malawi and Zambia were added. In the third year, schools from Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone were added. After the second year, Celtel was sold to the mobile phone company Zain, headquartered in Bahrain. The name of the game changed to Zain Africa Challenge. Season five, which was set to be telecast in 2011, failed to make it past pre-production after Zain sold its African network operations to Bharti Airtel.

An Irish version of the competition called Challenging Times ran between 1991 and 2002. It was sponsored by The Irish Times newspaper and presented by Kevin Myers, then a columnist with that newspaper. Throughout the show, University College Cork had the most wins, with three, while National University of Ireland, Galway qualified for the most finals, winning twice and placing second twice.

From an episode of the 2021 version of College Bowl

The game is played using a modified version of the current Honda Campus All-Star Challenge rules, between two teams of three players, with no penalty for wrong answers. In each of the first two rounds, the teams are shown four categories. This round was known as the "Face-Off" in season one but was renamed the "Kickoff" in season two, with only one round being played. Each category contains one "Face-Off" question and two bonus "Follow-Up" questions, all worth 10 points each. The Face-Off questions are asked on the buzzers to all players, with no conferring allowed. The first player to buzz in and answer correctly wins control of the Follow-Ups, for which conferring is allowed. An incorrect response at any time gives the opposing team a chance to steal the points with a correct answer. In season two, a category that was used is replaced with a new one. One category is secretly designated as "Extra Credit," awarding 20 points per question if chosen. This was removed in the second season. Each of these rounds ends after three categories have been played.

A random draw decides which team will choose first in Round 1, and the trailing team at the end of this round chooses first in Round 2. During both rounds, the team that correctly answers the Face-Off question in a category earns the right to select the next one, regardless of the outcome of the Follow-Ups.

The second "Kickoff" round was replaced in season two by a new round dubbed "One-on-One," in which three categories, each with three questions, are shown and both teams determine who will participate. Correct answers are worth 20 points, while an incorrect response gives the opponent control.

The third and final round is the "Two-Minute Drill," in which each team has two minutes to answer as many questions as possible. In season one, teams chose their categories ("majors") from a group of six before the game began, and the trailing team went first. Teammates may confer on the questions, but only the captain may buzz in and answer. Each correct response scores 25 points, and a bonus is awarded after every fifth such answer, starting with 50 for the fifth and increasing by 25 for each additional set of five. The bonus was set to a flat 100 points in the second season.

Each qualifying contest consists of two complete games, with two new teams per game. The two highest-scoring teams from each contest advance to an eight-team elimination bracket, regardless of whether they won their respective games. The two highest scorers from the remaining six teams also advance as wild cards.

All matches beyond the qualifiers in the first season had three Face-Off rounds, with five categories available; each round ended when four of them have been played. The higher-seeded team in each match starts the first round. In season one, the Face-Offs were followed by a "Dropout Round," in which the host asks a question with multiple correct answers (e.g. naming the 30 teams in the NBA) and calls on one member at a time from alternating teams to respond. A miss or repetition of any previously given answer eliminates the contestant from the round. When called on, a contestant may challenge any one opposing team member to respond instead; if the opponent gives a correct answer, the challenger is eliminated. The first team to be eliminated must choose one of its members to sit out the Two-Minute Drill, while the opposing team plays the round with all three.

The "Dropout Round" was replaced in season two starting with the quarterfinals with a new round dubbed "The Handoff," in which three categories each feature a question with three correct answers. The trailing team goes first. Each correct response is worth 20 points, while an incorrect response moves on to the next teammate until all three chances have finished. Just like "The Knockout," a used category gets replaced with a new one. In subsequent turns, the contestant in the position corresponding to the question number goes first. The round ends after six questions.

In season two, a new round was added in between the quarterfinals and semifinals, called "The Blitz," consisting of the Kickoff and Two-Minute Drill. 3 matches are played, with the winner of each advancing to the semifinals, along with the runner-up team that scored the most points.

In the second season's semifinals, a new round dubbed "Pass-Play" was introduced. In this round, two categories are shown, and the controlling team chooses which one to play, with the remaining category being given to the opposing team. The trailing team goes first. Correct answers are worth 20 points, while an incorrect answer awards the opponents those points. The round consists of eight questions, with the latter half including two "Extra Credit" categories that not only double the points but also feature two answers.

In season one, members of teams eliminated in the qualifiers, quarterfinals, or semifinals each receive $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000, respectively. In season two, members of teams eliminated in the qualifiers, quarterfinals, "The Blitz," or semifinals each receive $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000 respectively. Members of the tournament champion and runner-up teams each receive $125,000 and $25,000, respectively. Alternates receive the same monetary award as their teammates. In addition, four contestants are chosen to receive $5,000 Merit Awards based on their character and leadership ability.

The revival's first season took place over four rounds, with a qualifier round followed by a traditional playoff bracket including quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final.

After the end of the qualifier rounds, eight of the original 12 teams advanced to the quarterfinals. Listed by team name (seed), these were: Ole Miss (1), Tennessee (2), Michigan (3), USC (4), UCLA (5), Alabama (6), Columbia (7), and Auburn (8). Morehouse, UVA, Minnesota, and XULA were eliminated.

The quarterfinal results were as follows:

• Auburn (8) def. Ole Miss (1) 665–535
• Columbia (7) def. Tennessee (2) 925–510
• Alabama (6) def. Michigan (3) 860–540
• USC (4) def. UCLA (5) 760–500

For the semifinals, the remaining four teams were re-seeded based on their combined scores from the qualifier and quarterfinal rounds. The resulting order was: Columbia (1), USC (2), Alabama (3), and Auburn (4). USC was the only team to avoid being defeated by a lower-seeded opponent in the quarterfinals.

The semifinal results were as follows:

• Columbia (1) def. Auburn (4) 735–695
• USC (2) def. Alabama (3) 950–600

For the final, the team with the higher cumulative score in all previous matches (USC) won the right to choose the first category in Round 1. Columbia won the championship with a score of 790–775; team members Tamarah Wallace, Shomik Ghose, and Jake Fisher received $125,000 scholarships to put towards their college education, as did alternate Addis Boyd. USC's Ann Nguyen, Karan Menon, and Brendan Glascock, along with alternate Astrid, received $25,000 scholarships as the runner-up team.

The revival's second season took place over five rounds, with a qualifier round followed by a traditional playoff bracket including quarterfinals, "The Blitz," semifinal, and a final.

After the end of the qualifier rounds, twelve of the original 16 teams advanced to the quarterfinals. Listed by team name (seed), these were: Notre Dame (1), Oklahoma (2), Texas (3), Georgia (4), Washington (5), BYU (6), Penn State (7), Spelman (8), Syracuse (9), UC Santa Barbara (10), Columbia (11), and Duke (12). Ohio State, Florida, Albany State, and Morehouse were eliminated.

The quarterfinal results were as follows:

• BYU (6) def. Notre Dame (1) 650–605
• Georgia (4) def. Texas (3) 465–455
• Penn State (7) def. Oklahoma (2) 690–650
• Syracuse (9) def. Duke (12) 660–640
• UC Santa Barbara (10) def. Spelman (8) 530–445
• Columbia (11) def. Washington (5) 740–710

For "The Blitz," the remaining six teams were re-seeded based on their combined scores from the qualifier and quarterfinal rounds. The resulting order was: Penn State (1), Columbia (2), BYU (3), Georgia (4), Syracuse (5), and UC Santa Barbara (6). Penn State advanced to the semifinal, with the most points out of the runner-up teams.

The "Blitz" results were as follows:

• BYU (3) def. Penn State (1) 725–590
• Georgia (4) def. Syracuse (5) 565–540
• Columbia (2) def. UC Santa Barbara (6) 755–225

For the semifinal, the remaining four teams were re-seeded based on their combined scores from the qualifier, quarterfinal, and "Blitz" rounds. The resulting order was: Columbia (1), Penn State (2), BYU (3), and Georgia (4).

The semifinal results were as follows:

• Columbia (1) def. BYU (3) 925–590
• Georgia (4) def. Penn State (2) 805–610

For the final, Georgia won the championship with a score of 910–855; team members Layla Parsa, Aidan Leahy, and Elijah Odunade received $125,000 scholarships to put towards their college education. Columbia's Akshay Manglik, Albert Zhang, and Forrest Weintraub received $25,000 scholarships as the runner-up team.