I have assembled the 26 best football-themed movies and in true March Madness style, created a bracket to determine the best football movie of all time.

 

Myself and three other sports-minded people ranked the movies 1 to 26, with seeds determined by the averages - low to high.

 

I will post a thread at different intervals throughout the next few weeks and months. Everyone will have the same amount of time to vote before the polls close. The winner advances.

 

You will not know the list of movies until the first round is over. I'm sure I have forgotten one or two, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

Some you won't see are:

 

Jerry McGuire, which was more about agents than football

• Black Sunday, more about terrorists than football
  
• Air Bud, more about being terrible than football
  
• Forrest Gump, MASH, Lucas, Last Boy Scout, etc. all had football in it but wasn't the central plot.

Use whatever criteria you wish in casting the vote. In the spirit of the MVP Award, "Best Football movie" can mean whatever you want it to mean.

 

Play-In Results

 

#23 Wildcats over #26 Gus 51-18

#24 The Replacements over #25 Quarterback Princess 54-2

 

First Round

 

#9 Everybody's All-American over #23 Wildcats 18-14

#17 The Longest Yard (2005) over #16 Gridiron Gang 36-23

#13 The Program over #20 The Best of Times 51-17

#21 Little Giants over #12 Necessary Roughness 32-27

#11 All the Right Moves over #22 Radio 28-26

#14 Varsity Blues over #19 The Waterboy 55-36

#24 The Replacements over #10 Heaven Can Wait 30-13

#15 Any Given Sunday over #18 Semi-Tough 48-6

 

Second Round

 

#8 Brian's Song over #9 Everybody's All-American 35-7

#1 Remember the Titans over #17 The Longest Yard (2005) 72-3

#13 The Program over #4 North Dallas Forty 33-25

#5 Rudy over #21 Little Giants 66-9

#6 We Are Marshall over #11 All The Right Moves 37-15

#3 Friday Night Lights over #14 Varsity Blues 42-30

#7 Invincible over #24 The Replacements 30-28

#2 The Longest Yard (1974) over #15 Any Given Sunday 31-26

 

 

#6 We Are Marshall (Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, the lovely Kate Mara)

 

 

vs.

 

#3 Friday Night Lights (Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Derek Luke)

 

I go with Friday Night Lights, however all my original choices are long gone...

I went with Friday Night lights.

I was never a fan of Friday Night Lights.

I voted for FNL for no other reason than it knocked out one of my favorites. It's a good flick, but certainly not anywhere close to "Varsity Blues."

Both were great movies IMO, but We Are Marshall left me feeling a little more emotional than the other. Hard decision though..

I voted for FNL for no other reason than it knocked out one of my favorites. It's a good flick, but certainly not anywhere close to "Varsity Blues."

 

:thumb:

 

I really like We Are Marshall, much more so than FNL.

:thumb:

 

I really like We Are Marshall, much more so than FNL.

 

I've never seen "We Are Marshall," so I can only comment on the flick I know to be great ...

This one is a pretty tough one for me. Once again...love them both and own them both. I think my vote goes to We Are Marshal...but both are awesome.

FNL, just overall a better movie.

Looks like this contest could go down to the wire. Easily the best matchup of the round.

Friday Night Lights wins this one

Friday Night Lights, even though We are Marshall is Matt. McCon's best movie, period.

FNL

I voted for FNL for no other reason than it knocked out one of my favorites. It's a good flick, but certainly not anywhere close to "Varsity Blues."

 

:ylsuper: Varsity Blues got hosed.