A college-town crowd and a smattering of Bowling Green locals crowded into Buffalo Wild Wings on Scottsville Road for an evening of wings, drinks and football watching with the volume set low on wide-screen TVs that hung on the walls.

Some patrons occasionally glanced at smaller monitors tucked into corners throughout the restaurant. They displayed trivia questions and reported scores earned by players based on the speed of response and accuracy.

Nestled in a back corner, a handful of Western professors posted impressive scores while taking teasing jabs at each other and sipping draft beers. Their long-standing pastime elevated the bar and a couple of individual players into national prominence for their trivia prowess.

The “Showdown” competition at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays draws the professors because it’s the only “Buzztime” competition dedicated to academic questions – with more history and science and less pop culture.

The competition takes place among 4,000 locations throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Everyone playing in a bar competes as a team, and the game posts individual standings. NTN Buzztime Inc. estimates that about 400,000 patrons play.

Players use wireless transmitters to select answers in a multiple-choice format with four choices. As time passes for each question, clues are offered to narrow possible correct answers. After each clue, the amount of points awarded for a correct answer drops.

The impetus for playing is mostly social, said Roger Murphy, associate political science professor. Sometimes other people tag along to hang out, even though they don’t play trivia.

“We come to see each other and have a beer,” he said. “It’s kind of fun.”

The game draws players of all ages looking for fun, said Dave Taylor, manager at the restaurant.

Taylor doesn’t know much about trivia, and he finds some of the questions pretty hard. But he knows about bar traffic, and the game draws it, and revenue.

The Buzztime Web site reports that Buzztime players spend 47 percent more money at locations, stay 39 percent longer and visit 72 percent more often each month than nonplayers.

Graduate student Clare Cherry learns when playing trivia with the Western contingent, she said.

“I’ve only been coming here for nine months, and I only come because they all tell me the answers,” Cherry said, laughing.

But some people take it seriously, Murphy said.

Enter James LeTourneau, assistant professor of journalism and broadcasting, and a highly ranked Buzztime trivia competitor.

When it comes to Buzztime, consider LeTourneau tenured.

LeTourneau plays by and expects others to adhere to a couple unstated rules: Don’t bring a computer into the bar, since it allows research during the game, which is cheating. And don’t yell out an answer unless you know the answer.

LeTourneau, using the screen name “Sicily,” has a cumulative 8.57 million points. His goal is to finish in the top 100 players nationwide every game. He estimated that he makes that goal about 50 or 60 percent of the time.

His Buzztime trivia players Web site statistics listed him as ranking in nine of the 28 trivia games in which he has participated. His trivia average of 11,215 places him at 883rd of 51,748 players.

Every few minutes, the table went silent, except for a couple players murmuring while reading trivia questions. Then they would turn to each other to take a quick consensus on the answer. LeTourneau usually hung back, answering the question on his own and looking on quietly as his teammates collaborated.

Meanwhile, the trivia buffs chatted about NCAA brackets and glanced at the football game on the TV over the bar while the rules to the game flashed across the screen.

Occasionally, a tough question required debate to narrow down the answer field.

Associate Biology Professor Ken Crawford, a nine-year trivia veteran, placed first in the bar in “Showdown” for the night with a cumulative 7,231,600.

Everyone makes a good showing, and everyone has a best category, LeTourneau said.

LeTourneau specializes in the Roman Empire, which he studied as an undergraduate. He said it’s also an advantage that he teaches journalism because it requires curiosity about a range of subjects. And he reads a lot on nonfiction work.

“I think if there’s anything that I’m probably better at, it’s being curious,” he said.

LeTourneau said playing trivia combats the effects of aging because he stays mentally sharp.

Meanwhile, the Scottsville Road bar is getting some attention in the trivia world.

Last year, it placed third in the “Showdown” Platinum League. The team’s performance allowed the bar to move up to the Premier League this year.

The bar also ranks 20th in the league in number of players.

Different bars have different atmospheres, LeTourneau said.

Some bars emphasize the competition. Others, such as the Scottsville Road Buffalo Wild Wings, come with players that share answers and are more laid back.

He sometimes looks up trivia locations on the Buzztime Web site. He inputs zip codes to find places to take a break and play a little trivia while on road trips.

LeTourneau said it sometimes makes regulars at other bars feel bad when the Western players beat them in on their home turf.

Some of his favorite places to visit are Teasers Pub in Chicago and a Marriot hotel a few blocks from the White House. He takes a cab in the evening to Aces and Eights bar when he takes his students to Las Vegas for a regular convention.

“They’re kind of territorial,” he said. “When you start winning, that’s when they sit up and take notice.”

Reach Amber Coulter at news@chherald.com.