Computer geeks everywhere will gather around their television sets next week to cheer on their most impressive representative yet. Ladies and gentlemen, the most anticipated Jeopardy! match of all time is about to air, a three-day blowout in which a non-human contestant could take all.

Three pre-recorded shows set to air February 14, 15, and 16 will against Jeopardy's two all-time biggest champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Those who attended the taping have been sworn to secrecy regarding the outcome.

Watson's ability produce the correct questions (host Alex Trebek provides the answers and the contestants must come up with the questions) goes beyond the reach of other mind-matching super computers, like the chess-playing Deep Blue. Unlike chess, Jeopardy requires the players to suss out the subtleties of language, from jokes and puns to irony and anagrams. In a January test, .

$1.5 million is at stake. The winner will take home a cool million. The second-place contestant will receive $300,000, and the third-place contestant will get $200,000. IBM, which would receive the cash if Watson won, said it would give the money to charity. Rutter and Jennings both said they will keep half if they win and donate the rest to charity.

Futurist winning the show. Here's a quick look at the contestants.

The Contestants

Brad Rutter (shown at right above) won a whopping $3.25 million playing Jeopardy, the most cash ever awarded on the show. He is a Johns Hopkins University dropout, but did complete high school. In an Ultimate Tournament, Rutter defeated Jennings and one other contestant.

Ken Jennings (shown at left above) holds the title for longest Jeopardy winning streak, with 74 consecutive wins in 2004. He holds degrees in computer science and English, from Brigham Young University, and an international baccalaureate diploma from Seoul Foreign School. He spent many of his early years living in South Korea and Singapore.

Watson, owned by IBM and in development for more than five years, runs on 90 servers, but does not connect to the Internet. The supercomputer was programmed by Carnegie Mellon University doctoral students and researchers. It in a preliminary trial round of the game.