Full Schedule For 'Jeopardy!' Professor's Tournament

Jeopardy! is taking its Teacher Tournament concept to the next level with the launch of the Professors Tournament.

Mayim Bialik returns to host this special edition of the game show favorite, with 15 accomplished professors competing to take home a huge cash prize of $100,000. The winner will also get a spot in the upcoming Tournament of Champions.

The introduction of the Jeopardy! Professors Tournament means the regular show, and current contestant Amy Schneider, will return once the special edition concludes.

Here's everything you need to know.

Jeopardy! Professors Tournament schedule

The Professors Tournament of Jeopardy! will run in a similar format to the other special editions, which get a 2-week window.

Starting from Monday, December 6, the Professors Tournament will air on weeknights and there will be ten episodes in total. The final show—where the new Jeopardy! champion will be crowned—will be broadcast on Friday, December 17.

Check your local listing for channels and start time but Jeopardy! generally airs on weekend at 7:00 p.m. ET on ABC.

The regular edition of Jeopardy! will return on Monday, December 20.

Jeopardy! Professors Tournament format

There will be ten shows in total, with three professors competing against each other on each episode. The first five shows of competition will be considered the quarter finals, with all fifteen contestants getting a turn.

The five winners will win an automatic place in the semi-finals. The four best, non-game winners with the highest money totals will advance to the semi-finals as wild cards. Nine out of the fifteen professors will advance to the semi-final stage.

Who will compete on Jeopardy! Professors Tournament?

Fifteen professors from American colleges and universities will take part in this upcoming special edition of Jeopardy!.

Describing her experience of hosting the Professors Tournament, Jeopardy! host Bialik said in a statement: "It was an unbelievable thrill to see so many brilliant professors from all kinds of schools and backgrounds come together on the Jeopardy! stage."

She continued: "There was a sense of kinship and academic camaraderie among the group, along with a healthy dose of competitiveness. That energy made this inaugural Professors Tournament incredibly special."

All fifteen competitors enter the competition at the quarter-final stage. The professors and their show dates are as follows:

Show 1 on Monday, December 6

• Gautam Hans, an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, Tenn.
• Hester Blum, a Professor of English at Penn State University in University Park, Pa.
• Gary Hollis, a Professor of Chemistry at Roanoke College in Salem, Va.

Show 2 on Tuesday, December 7

• Marti Canipe, a Professor of Elementary Science at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz.
• John Harkless, an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
• Katie Reed, an Associate Professor of Musicology at California State University Fullerton in Fullerton, Calif.

Show 3 on Wednesday, December 8

• Sam Buttrey, a Professor of Operations Research at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
• Lisa Dresner, an Associate Professor of Writing at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
• Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders, an Assistant Professor of U.S. and African American History at University of Colorado-Boulder in Boulder, Colo.

Show 4 on Thursday, December 9

• Ramón Guerra, a Professor of English, Literature, and Latino Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
• Ed Hashima, a Professor of History at American River College in Sacramento, Calif.
• Julia Williams, a Professor of English at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.

Show 5 on Friday, December 10

• J.P. Allen, a Professor of Business at the University of San Francisco in San Francisco, Calif.
• Alisa Hove, a Professor of Botany at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C.
• Deborah Steinberger, a Professor of French Literature at the University of Delaware in Newark, Del.

Many of this year's contestants have previewed the episodes on Twitter, which the official Jeopardy! account then retweeted.