Welcome back to Breaking Brackets. The place where we all vote to see what is the greatest of whatever we are ranking. Of course, right now we are doing Sports Movies. Before we get onto today’s matchups, seeds 21-24 vs 44-41, a quick recap of the previous polls.

Three of the four matchups were heavily one-sided, with two 75-25 margins and an 80-20 margin. Only one was remotely close, and it still wasn’t THAT close.

In the first matchup, the 17th seed The Karate Kid, the original, not the bullshit thing with Will Smith’s kid, was one of the two matchups to gain 75% of the votes, handily beating out the 48th seeded Above The Rim. A shame really as Above The Rim was meant to be the 49th seed but I messed up.

The second matchup was the one close(ish) one as the 47th seed Blades of Glory pulled off the upset and snuck past the 18th seed The Hurricane with 58% of the votes. This one was surprising to me because A) The Hurricane is great and so is Denzel, and B) Blades of Glory isn’t THAT funny.

The third matchup was the biggest victory, with the 46th seeded Talladega Nights (another Will Ferrell) destroyed poor Rudy, making the 19th seed meaningless, by garnering 80% of the total votes.

The final matchup from yesterday saw the 45th seeded Invincible also pull off a one-sided upset, gaining 75% of the votes to eliminate the 20th seed The Way Back. Honestly, this one isn’t too surprising as The Way Back is fairly new and only seeded so high because of the curriculum I used for seeding. It is worth your time though, so check it out.

With that out of the way, let’s move on to today’s matchups:

21. Friday Night Lights vs 44. White Men Can’t Jump

Friday Night Lights is a 2004 football drama directed by Peter Berg (Deepwater Horizon, Patriot’s Day) and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black and Garrett Hedlund. It follows the citizens of Dillon, Texas and their wildly popular high school football team. When star Running Back Boobie Miles goes down with a season-ending injury, the town thinks the season is lost. So it’s up to new coach Gary Gaines to get the rest of the team to step up and believe in themselves.

White Men Can’t Jump is a 1992 basketball comedy directed by Ron Shelton (Tin Cup, Bull Durham) and stars Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson and Rosie Perez. It tells the story of Billy Hoyle and Sidney Deane, two basketball hustlers making their way around the courts of Los Angeles, conning whoever they can.

Friday Night Lights has an average RT score of 83.5%, compared to White Men Can’t Jump, which has an average RT score of 72.5%. The main difference in this one is tone, as the former is a serious drama, whereas the latter is a comedy. FNL will be hard to beat though considering it got a spin-off TV show as well and is definitively more popular.

22. Major League vs 43. Happy Gilmore

Major League is a 1989 baseball comedy directed by David S. Ward (Major League II, Down Periscope) and stars Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes. It is about the Cleveland Indians and their new owner, Rachel Phelps, who is determined to relocate the team to a warmer climate, but she only can with a losing season. So she hires a ragtag bunch of misfits and loose units to ensure that happens, but they have other thoughts.

Happy Gilmore is a 1996 comedy directed by Dennis Dugan (pretty much every other Adam Sandler movie) and follows the titular character, Happy. He is a hockey player who isn’t very good at hockey, but discovers a new talent; hitting golf balls really far. Desperate to make money to save his grandma’s house, Happy takes up his new sport to try and reach his goal.

Major League has an averate RT score of 83.5%, compared to Happy Gilmore, which has an average RT score of 73%. These are two beloved sports comedies from different decades. The former is loved by critics and audiences alike, the latter, hated by critics but loved by audiences.

23. Remember The Titans vs 42. Dodgeball

Remember The Titans is a 2000 Disney football drama loosely based on a true story, directed by Boaz Yakin (Safe, Fresh) and stars Denzel Washington, Will Patton and Wood Harris. It tells the kinda true story of Herman Boone, the new head coach of T.C. Williams High School’s football team. Tempers and racial tensions flare when Boone, a black man, is hired to replace Bill Yoast, a white man who is beloved by the community.

Dodgeball is a 2004 comedy directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (We’re The Millers, Central Intelligence) and stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Justin Long. It follows Pete La Fleur, the owner of a struggling gym in danger of being taken over by the big chain owned by White Goodman. La Fleur, with the help of his loyal customers, enters a team into a Dodgeball tournament, hoping to win the cash prize.

Remember The Titans features an average RT score of 83%, compared to Dodgeball, having an average RT score of 73.5%. Surprisingly, the former falls under the “not liked by critics but loved by audiences” category. I’d imagine a lot of disdain is due to Disney playing pretty fast and loose with facts in the movie. Still, this is a tough matchup for Dodgeball, which is a pretty underrated comedy.

24. 42 vs 41. Coach Carter

42 is a biopic from 2013 directed by Brian Helgeland (A Knight’s Tale, Legend) and stars the late, great Chadwick Boseman, as well as Harrison Ford. It tells the true story of Jackie Robinson, the first black player in MLB, and the barriers he had to break down to become one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

Coach Carter is a 2005 basketball drama based on a true story, directed by Thomas Carter (Save The Last Dance, Metro) and stars Samuel L. Jackson, Channing Tatum and Ashanti. It tells the story of Ken Carter, the coach of the previously undefeated Richmond High School basketball team who made headlines for benching his team for poor academic results.

42 currently has an average RT score of 83%, compared to Coach Carter, which has an average RT score of 74.5%. This one is the battle of the true stories; 42 has the more famous story as Jackie Robinson is celebrated to this day, but I feel Coach Carter is the more well-known movie. Should make for an interesting battle.

There we have it for today’s matchups. As always, keep it locked on the Sportcodex Twitter account to keep up with these polls which are going up nearly every day (apologies for missing yesterday.)

Until next time, PEACE!