It’s hard to believe this will be our fourth Movie Madness tournament. Didn’t we just start this thing, like, yesterday?

In case you missed it, in 2020, because the post-season college basketball tournaments were canceled, I thought, “What better way to keep the crazy competitiveness of March alive than with a movie tournament?”

So, I introduced Corinne’s Movie Madness.

Just like the basketball tournaments, we had a field of competitors facing off in one-on-one competitions. You, the Reel Nerds fans, decided which of the two movies in a given match-up advanced to the next round, and eventually crowned The Princess Bride as Movie Madness 2020’s champion.

In 2021, I got my fellow Nerds involved in a Disney/Pixar Animation tournament. Of all the amazing 16 movies, I’m happy to say my No. 1 seed, Beauty & The Beast (1991), won the 2021 crown. Then, last year, we did DC vs. Marvel and Logan came out on top of the 16-film bracket.

This March, we’re finally tapping into the origins of Movie Madness with a sports movie tournament!

The competitors and bracket mechanics

Unlike the NCAA basketball tournaments, this one is very selective. Only 16 films qualify for a coveted spot on the bracket. No doubt you’re wondering exactly how I picked 16 films out of hundreds of sports movies.

Well, first, shout out to Brad for giving me the idea for this year’s theme. I had a couple of ideas in February, but after talking to some of the other Nerds, I realized a sports movie bracket would be perfect! I’m honestly surprised I haven’t done one yet. I practically grew up on sports movies, as there were tons that came out in the 90s and early 2000s.

So, that’s where I started building this year’s bracket. I decided that, to qualify, the movie had to come out in my lifetime — 1990 or later. I realize this excludes a ton of sports movies, including very beloved ones like Rocky, Field of Dreams and Hoosiers, but I had to start somewhere. It’s possible I might put together a pre-1990 sports movie tournament in the future.

I also decided to exclude any movies that involved animals (Air Bud, Seabiscuit, etc.), and required that the movie’s main character (or co-main character) has to coach or play the given sport. So, movies where the main character is only a fan, a parent, an agent or the team’s owner don’t qualify.

So, with those criteria, I started asking my fellow Nerds and other friends what their favorite post-1990 sports movies were. Based on their suggestions and some of my own favorites, I compiled a bracket of 16 films.

I decided to create the “regions” based on what time of year the sports depicted are typically played. For example: basketball movies in the winter sports, baseball in the spring sports, etc. I know soccer/futbol is played all over the world at various times of year, so I decided to go with the season when the local college plays it — fall. I also combined year-round sports and summer sports into one category.

Then, once I figured out which region/category the movies would start in, I selected the first-round matchups based on the sports and/or the tone of the movie. Some are more comedic, so I tried to pair them up with other sports-comedies. Same thing with sports-dramas.

Thus, because of the weird formatting, we’re not doing “seeds” or rankings for each movie this year. It would’ve complicated things much more than necessary.

How you participate

Just like the college basketball tournament, Movie Madness will start Thursday, March 16!

That day, we will post the first match-up on the Reel Nerds’ Twitter page so you can cast your vote! Simple as that.

For instance, March 16 will feature our first Winter Sports matchup; whichever movie receives more votes by the time the poll ends will advance to the next round. (If there happens to be a tie, I’ll cast the deciding vote.)

Eight days later, we will advance to the second-round match-ups, and the procedure will be the same until a movie is crowned the winner. If I’m counting right, our championship matchup should be on March 30.

Announcing the field

Here is your full field:

• Thursday, March 16: Cool Runnings vs. Space Jam. Who knew winter sports could be so… looney? Cool Runnings is based on the true story of the Jamaican bobsled team making its debut in the 1988 Winter Olympics. While Space Jam is the “true story” of basketball legend Michael Jordan deciding to play professional baseball, only for the Looney Tunes to convince him that basketball is where his real talent lies.
• Friday, March 17: Miracle vs. Hustle. Both sports-dramas, Miracle is based on the true story of the U.S. hockey team overcoming its underdog status in the 1980 Winter Olympics; while, Hustle is a recent Netflix movie featuring Adam Sandler as a pro basketball scout who puts his career on the line to train a complete unknown for the NBA combine/draft.
• Saturday, March 18: A League of Their Own vs. 42. Both dramatic retellings of true stories, ALOTO shows women playing professional baseball during World War II and 42 portrays Jackie Robinson’s role in breaking baseball’s color barrier.
• Sunday, March 19: Angels in the Outfield vs. The Sandlot. Both childhood classics of mine, each film examines what happens when the impossible becomes the possible, when the imaginary becomes reality on the baseball field. Angels in the Outfield is about the titular professional baseball team receiving some divine intervention, and The Sandlot is about a group of boys who spend their summers growing and learning together on the field.
• Monday, March 20: Ford V. Ferrari vs. Creed. Both more dramatic sports movies, Ford V. Ferrari is based on the real-life racing rivalry, and Creed — a sequel to the Rocky franchise — shows Apollo Creed’s son picking up his father’s gloves and stepping into the boxing ring.
• Tuesday, March 21: Happy Gilmore vs. Talladega Nights. Both insanely funny sports-comedies, Happy Gilmore is what happens when a NHL reject takes up professional golfing, and Talladega Nights is about Ricky Bobby’s journey to regain his racing mojo.
• Wednesday, March 22: The Big Green vs. Bend It Like Beckham. These soccer comedies are what happen when your imagination runs away with you on the field. The Big Green shows a small Texas town forming its first-ever youth soccer team, while Bend It Like Beckham is a coming-of-age story about a Punjabi-British girl’s desire to play soccer despite her family’s objections.
• Thursday, March 23: Remember the Titans vs. Rudy. These football dramas show the true power of real-life underdog stories. Remember the Titans depicts the titular players having to overcome their racial prejudices when their Virginia high schools integrate, while Rudy‘s the story of an underdog who dreams of playing football at Notre Dame.

Thus, on Friday, March 24, we will start the second round and on March 30, we will have our championship showdown.

Which sports movie will take home the 2023 Movie Madness Trophy? Which Cinderella story will take the crown? Which set of underdogs will triumph in the end?

You decide!