An Ohio State student will make an appearance on a popular television game show this week.

Shawn Collier, a sophomore in communication, will appear in the upcoming “Hollywood Squares” college tournament which will air for the next two weeks.

Collier said he was not a regular viewer of “Hollywood Squares” prior to his audition.

“I saw it on “Buckeye Net News” and my roommate and I decided to go for the heck of it, just for fun,” Collier said.

Collier’s roommate, Cole Everett, a sophomore in communication, said he was drawn to the audition by the rare opportunity to appear on a game show.

The audition process consisted of two phases. In the first phase, potential contestants were required to answer 25 written questions similar to the ones asked on the actual show, Collier said. In the second phase, contestants answered questions on stage, so producers could determine how well they would perform before an actual audience. Collier made it through both phases of the audition, but did not expect a call back.

“When that was over they said, ‘We’ll call you back — if you’re the person who made it — some time around Thanksgiving. And if you don’t hear from us, thanks for coming.’ It was one of those things, and honestly I just thought, ‘Well that was fun.’ I didn’t think much of it,” Collier said.

Collier received the call which informed him he had been selected in the third week of November.

Everett, who described himself as a game show fan, was not discouraged by the decision.

“It was fine, at least it was somebody I knew. I’m going to try out again next year,” he said.

Paul Gendreau, spokesman for “Hollywood Squares,” said the college tournament is one of the most watched events they air.

“It’s one of the best weeks of the show. The kids are so enthusiastic and for a college student, a chance to win $25,000 is a pretty big deal,” Gendreau said.

Contestants were flown to Los Angeles and given rooms at the Beverly Plaza Hotel free of charge. They were also given $100 to spend on food and souvenirs, Collier said.

The tournament, which will last weeks, was filmed in two days at CBS studios, which is the same place they film “The Price is Right,” Collier said.

“When we were backstage we were fooling around at the Plinko board,” he said.

After the taping, contestants had the opportunity to meet some of the stars who occupy the squares on the show. They met Simon Cowell, a judge on the television show “American Idol” who will occupy the center square during the first week of the tournament, Collier said. Cowell is notorious for his harsh talent assessments on his own show, so the student contestants did not know what to expect, he said.

“He stopped, put down his bag, shook all of our hands, told us we did a good job, wished us good luck, and went on his way,” Collier said. “Carmen Electra was another one of the squares, so of course for us guys, we were kind of excited about that.”

The second week will feature an entirely new line up of stars including Howie Mandel and Alf, Collier said.

The “Hollywood Squares” college tournament airs from yesterday to Feb. 28.