BYU students Frances “Frani” King, Ben Potter and Craig Walker love competing in Quiz Bowl. It’s been a highlight of their years in Provo. They just never thought they’d be competing in a nationally televised Quiz Bowl-style competition.
But they’re representing the Cougars as season 2 of “College Bowl” gets underway Friday night on NBC.
“When we found out that this was going to happen, it seemed too good to be true,” Potter said. “We almost wondered if that was some elaborate prank that someone was pulling on us.”
“It was too good to be true,” said King. “Not only are you on a stage with all these cameras, but you’re doing your absolute favorite thing — Quiz Bowl. And for Ben, he’s in front of his favorite celebrity. That’s crazy.”
That would be host Peyton Manning, the former quarterback for the Denver Broncos. And Potter, a 25-year-old biology major from Grand Junction, Colorado, grew up as a big Broncos fan.
“So, yeah, it was a dream come true to meet him,” Potter said.
Representing the Y.
Hard on the heels of their excitement over being chosen to compete on “College Bowl” was a bit of nervousness, the three BYU students each said.
“I definitely wanted to represent BYU well and wanted to show that we’ve got some quality Quiz Bowl players. So hopefully we didn’t embarrass ourselves,” Potter said with a laugh.
They weren’t just competing for themselves, they were competing for their university. And even, maybe, representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I felt very much that I was representing BYU, which is affiliated with the church,” said King, a 23-year-old microbiology major from Milford, Pennsylvania. “BYU puts out an image of, like, decorum and being clean cut and all this other stuff that also goes with the church. I didn’t very much feel like I was there on behalf of the church as much as I knew that people associate the two. So I wanted to put my best foot forward for that reason.”
And, they hoped, they could write a new page in Cougars lore.
“BYU is a really old institution with some really amazing accomplishments,” Walker said, “like the 1984 football national champions. I wanted to be able to add to that legacy of excellence.”
(Steve Swisher | NBC) BYU's Craig Walker, Ben Potter and Frani King compete on "College Bowl."
Meeting Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning hosts the show and his brother, Cooper, acts as his sidekick. “They were just really nice, genuine people,” said Walker, a 22-year-old international relations major from Billings, Montana. “I don’t know that they imagined themselves hosting a game show, much in the same way I never imagined myself being on a game show. They had a lot of fun on set as well.”
King said the brothers were “really nice. They took some time to come over and talk to us before the game. Kind of wished us luck. And kind of helped us get more comfortable.”
But it was Broncos fan Potter who was really thrilled.
“I got to live through the glory days of Denver Broncos football when Peyton Manning was there,” he said. (Manning led the Broncos to a Super Bowl championship in 2016.) And, yes, he did get an autograph from his idol on “a Peyton Manning jersey that has been well worn and well loved.”
Friendly competition
“College Bowl” is not exactly a traditional quiz bowl competition — there are several rounds of trivia with game-show elements added.
“It’s definitely different,” Potter said. “The gameplay is different. ... It’s kind of a different game with each round of the episode.”
The BYU team appears in the second of two episodes airing on Friday — they face Washington in the 8 p.m. episode on NBC/Channel 5, which also features Florida vs. Georgia. The 7 p.m. episode matches Ohio State vs. Notre Dame and Texas vs. Oklahoma. Episodes will stream the following day on Peacock.
The teams are highly competitive, but collegial at the same time.
(Steve Swisher | NBC) BYU's Craig Walker, Ben Potter and Frani King compete on "College Bowl."
“I made some good friendships there,” Walker said. “It was really a very positive experience. It’s not really a trash-talking environment. It’s not like regular college sports in that way.”
And, unlike traditional Quiz Bowl competitions, this one takes place on an elaborate set while cameras are trained on the contestants, and there’s a potential audience of millions who’ll be watching at home.
“I hope we get that kind of viewing,” King said, sounding like a TV veteran.
“It was a little bit nerve wracking,” Potter added. “I mean, I’ve never experienced anything like that — filming on a big stage like that.” For him, it was kind of a mixed bag — “wanting to soak in the moment” and “wanting to be really prepared.”
“We were really hyped and really pumped up to play,” said BYU’s quiz bowl captain, “but then also just trying to enjoy every moment of it because we didn’t know what the outcome would be. … I’m really excited for it to air and definitely a little nervous, just because we were so wrapped up in the competition that it’s kind of a blur. I just hope I didn’t do anything too embarrassing.”
“I just lived it. I didn’t get to see it yet,” Walker joked, adding that he, too, is “a little bit nervous” to see himself on TV.
Teammates and friends
King, Potter and Walker are not just Quiz Bowl teammates, they’re friends. When they learned they’d been chosen to represent BYU, “We looked at each other and we were all, like, ‘I want to play next to you,’” King said. “I’m pumped to play next to Ben and Craig. …
“And every time things got a little tense, we would regroup and kind of just tell ourselves, ‘OK, we’re just happy to be here.”
As it turned out, their relationship was “kind of a special thing” among the various “College Bowl” competitors who traveled to Atlanta to tape the show back in June, according to Potter.
“Some of the other teams, they didn’t meet each other until they showed up to compete.” he said. “We’re friends. We enjoy hanging out with each other. So we’ve had a lot of fun with the entire experience.”
They said they were determined to have fun, no matter how the competition turned out.
“No matter what happened — whether we got absolutely destroyed in that first round or we go all the way — I wanted to have a really good time,” Walker said. “It was going to be a really unique experience. Something I hadn’t had up to that point, and there’s a pretty good likelihood I’ll never have again.”
They can’t talk about how they did in the competition, but the three BYU students agreed that they achieved their goal of having a great time.
“I kind of see it as, like, the peak of my college quiz bowl career,” Potter said. “I mean, it was a blast.”
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