FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Caleb Conrad is a political science major at the University of Arkansas, but that fact didn’t come up last Tuesday, when he appeared as a member of ‘Triple Treat’ on NBC’s popular reality show America’s Got Talent.

The vocal trio performed their own arrangement of the MKTO pop hit “Classic” during the Judges’ Audition – a preliminary show to the main competition.

It’s obvious from the YouTube video of the performance that the four judges were skeptical when Conrad, Will Richey and Tyler Davis took the stage. They didn’t exactly look like pop stars. Richey is built like a former offensive linesman – which he is – and he was wearing a cardigan sweater. Conrad was clearly the “cute one,” mostly by default. Davis was wearing glasses and supporting himself with a crutch. They all looked very young.

But when a judge, Mel B, interviewed them it became obvious that they had charm, sharp wits and were not at all nervous to be on a national stage.

Then Triple Threat started singing. Their voices were strong and soulful, harmonies tight, and it turned out the kid with the crutch could rap.

The judges – Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Howard Stern, as well as Mel B – were clearly surprised at first, then impressed, and then won over. The audience had a similar reaction and the performance ended with a standing ovation.

Triple Threat passed their audition with four “Yes” votes from the judges. Mandel commented that “you can’t tell a book by its cover;” Klum said she really liked their arrangement of the song; Stern called them “beautifully nerdy … finally, a boy band that looks like me.”

(Actually, they look much better than him, but it’s a nice quote.)

So who are Triple Threat?

Caleb Conrad will be a senior this year in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Will Richey and Tyler Davis just graduated from Ouachita Baptist University.

They are huge Arkansas Razorback fans.

All three are from Benton. They all played for the Benton High School football team, were all injured at the same time and found themselves spending a lot of time together. Richey and Davis had been friends since grade school and sang together as a duo in talent shows. Conrad also sang, but as a solo act. Before long they were singing together regularly and by late 2009 Triple Threat was formed.

The trio played a few small local gigs, then attracted local attention with two viral videos that shared an Arkansas Razorback theme: "Hey Grude" followed by "Never Yield" – the latter including former Razorback Matt Jones, KNWA sports anchor Aaron Peters, and American Idol winner Kris Allen.

The next step was obvious – audition for America’s Got Talent.

Videotaped preliminaries continue until the lilve competition begins in August.

Fans can follow the group on social media at Twitter: @itstriplethreat; Instagram: @triplethreatmusic; and Facebook: Facebook.com/itstriplethreat.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.