Mattea Roach scores a rare ‘Jeopardy!’ win. Here’s how she stacks up with past champs

It’s been a season of historic streaks on “Jeopardy!” and the latest champion recently continued her climb up the show’s all-time leaderboard by pulling off a rare feat.

With her 15th win on Monday, April 25, the tutor from Toronto is now has the eighth-longest winning streak in the show’s history.

Here’s what to know about the 23-year-old Canadian, who is the fourth contestant this season to amass a streak of at least 10 victories.

A unique 12th victory

Roach correctly answered her “Final Jeopardy!” clue on Wednesday, but her win was already official. She was the only contestant eligible to compete in the “Final Jeopardy!” round due to a rule that has not been used often.

Fellow contestants Loni Lewis and Sean Wong both entered “Final Jeopardy!” with negative scores, meaning they could not continue. So no matter what Roach wagered and regardless of if she knew the answer, she was the day’s champion even before the final clue was read.

Some people commented on Twitter that a contestant has gone into “Final Jeopardy!” by themselves nine times in the show’s history. Roach was the first to do so since former host Alex Trebek’s death in November 2020.

Some said on Twitter they had never seen a solo “Final Jeopardy!” round.

“I’ve never seen two contestants get disqualified from Final Jeopardy by being in the negatives. Mattea is ruthless,” one woman said.

Her approach to ‘Jeopardy!’

Roach is unlike some of the past historic champions in that she plays with a more conservative approach.

“I’m not one of those people who’s like, this is, you know, ‘the house’s money’ or money to play around with,” Mattea said in an interview on the show. “I’m no James Holzhauer. So, I like to be conservative with wagering.”

Even Wednesday with her win solidified, she wagered a modest $5,000 on “Final Jeopardy!”

She told CBC this month she prepared for “Jeopardy!” by studying the website J Archive, where fans of the show compile each episode’s clues. She added to the Canadian network she has been a “sponge for knowledge” most of her life.

“I almost feel as though, inadvertently, everything that I’ve done in my life has in some way contributed to me being able to be successful at ‘Jeopardy!’” she said in an interview with the Toronto Star.

What has she said about her experience?

In winning her first game on Tuesday, April 5, with $32,001, Roach appeared emotional as she realized she won enough money to pay off her student loans.

“I still get chills hearing myself say that I will be able to, when I receive the money, pay off my student loan with the money from (the April 5 game), like I still can’t believe it,” she told CBC.

She said in a “Jeopardy!” interview she is “genuinely having so much fun” competing.

“This has been such a crazy season of streaks,” Mattea said. “I was fully thinking, you know, Amy (Schneider) might still be here. If it’s not Amy, there’s going to be some other super-champion that’s just going to knock me out game one. And then, I guess what I didn’t realize is maybe I could become the super champion I wanted to see in the world.”

Each game for Roach, she told the Toronto Star, has felt like “an out-of-body experience.”

By the numbers

Roach has amassed $352,781 in winnings over her 15-game streak and has secured the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Tournament of Champions.

She has a ways to go to catch Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio, the two big winners of the season who totaled 40 and 38 straight victories, respectively.

Roach has correctly answered 93% of the clues she has buzzed in on and has successfully responded to 18 of the 20 Daily Doubles she’s landed on.

In “Final Jeopardy!,” Roach has answered 10 of the 15 clues successfully.

As evidence of her more conservative approach, Roach is averaging $23,518 per game. For comparison, Schneider averaged $34,570 per episode and Amodio was averaging $39,963.

Consecutive games won:

Ken Jennings in 2004: 74 games

Amy Schneider in 2022: 40 games

Matt Amodio in 2021: 38 games

James Holzhauer in 2019: 32 games

Julia Collins in 2014: 20 games

Jason Zuffranieri in 2019: 19 games

David Madden in 2005: 19 games

Mattea Roach in 2022: 15 games

Matt Jackson in 2015: 13 games

Austin Rogers in 2017: 12 games

Seth Wilson in 2016: 12 games

This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 9:41 AM.