Between the Sheets at the College Excel Championships
2026-02-24T17:01:58ZA dark horse competitor takes on the “LeBron James of College Excel.” A crowd member raises a sign that reads trust your cells. While competition propels Jesse Dougherty’s whirlwind tour of this year’s Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge, he keeps close tabs (get it?) on an engaging crew of competitors as they throw down. I gladly would’ve read another four thousand words on this year’s athletes. Feel the same? When you’re done, check out David Pierce’s 2024 coverage for The Verge.
Easy? Not quite. College Excel might not involve play calls or weight training, but it does require an abundance of skill. And while the term “student-athlete” has become a punch line in college sports, it does apply here (depending on what you think about people sweating while typing). The NCAA has those commercials — you’ve seen them — about how most athletes go pro in something other than sports. But in Vegas, most of these students, many of them finance majors, will go pro in spreadsheeting.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2026/02/24/college-excel-championships-vegas/
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