The TV Sports Theme Bracket Challenge

The TV Sports Theme Bracket Challenge

The TV Sports Theme Bracket

Round of 32



The field of 64 has been cut in half, you can see the results here. Time to whittle it down to North America's top 16 TV sports themes. Choose wisely.

Voting for this round will end on Sunday, March 25 at 11 PM ET.

1985 and earlier


(1) Hockey Night in Canada vs. (9) NFL on CBS, early 1980s

The original Hockey Night in Canada theme won 77% of the vote in round 1, against the NBC Sports disco theme from the early 80s.

The 9-seed early 80s CBS NFL theme destroyed its 8th-seed 70s counterpart 82% to 18%, which means all members of the seeding committee will receive 40 lashes in the back room.



(2) Wide World of Sports vs. (10) This Week in Baseball

People still love that poor ski jumper 48 years after he crashed, with the Wide World of Sports theme taking, with 77% of the vote in the first round.

The This Week in Baseball theme won a close matchup over the NBC Wimbledon music with 54%.



(3) The NFL Today vs. (6) Monday Night Football, 1976-87

The classic theme for the NFL Today won a whopping 86% in round 1.

80s beat 70s 66-34% in the battle of old Monday Night Football themes.



(5) NBA on CBS, 1980s vs. (13) ABC Monday Night Baseball, 1980s

It was an easy win for the 80s NBA on CBS theme with 65% of the vote. (and for those that asked about the 70s NBA on CBS theme that used every cliche known to man....um, no.)

The ABC Monday Night Baseball theme from the 1980s scored a close 52-48 upset victory over NBC Sports' 70s omni-theme (is that a word?).



1985-95


(1) CBS College Basketball, current vs. (9) CBS College Basketball, early 1990s

The current CBS college basketball theme, will go up against the one it replaced in 1993. Both won handily in round 1.



(2) Monday Night Football vs. (7) TNT Sunday Night Football

The "Heavy Action" theme from Monday Night Football won an easy 85% victory in round 1.

I said in round 1 that very few people remember Sunday Night Football on TNT, but apparently enough did that its theme music won its first round matchup with 62% of the vote.



(3) MLB on CBS vs. (11) NFL on NBC, 1994

The hidden gem CBS baseball music from the early 90s garnered 68% of the vote versus the NBC NFL theme from 1993.

Now its going up against the NBC NFL theme from a year later, which is showing some serious Cinderella potential.



(4) NBC Game of the Week, late 1980s vs. (5) NFL on CBS, late 1980s

The final NBC Game of the Week theme from the 80s eked out a 55-45% win in round 1 over the 90s ESPN Sunday Night Football intro.

72% of you voted for the "pots and pans" late 80s CBS NFL theme.





1995-2005


(1) NBA on NBC vs. (8) NHL on FOX

The overall #1 seed John Tesh NBA on NBC theme cruised to an 87% victory in the first round.

Its next victim opponent, the NHL on FOX theme won narrowly over the NBC Sports "Brisco County Jr." music.



(2) Bugler's Dream (Olympic Fanfare) vs. (7) ESPN National Hockey Night

The Olympic Fanfare took 81% of the vote in the first round against the ESPN Speedworld music.

For the second round, it's up against a cult favorite, the ESPN National Hockey Night intro, which surprisingly (to me) took 64% against the 2000s ABC college foothall theme.



(3) MLB on ESPN vs. (6) NFL on CBS, 1992-2002

The ESPN baseball theme took a whopping 88% of the vote in round 1. Obviously, not enough Canadians voted for the TSN World Junior theme.

This matchup should be a lot tighter, it's against the 90s CBS NFL music, which took 75% in its first round battle.



(4) MLB on FOX vs. (12) Masters on CBS

The late, lamented(?) FOX baseball music took 82% in the first round over ESPN's Sunday Night Football siren theme.

The only upset in this region in round 1 was the CBS Masters piano theme defeating the ESPN college football theme 58-42.



2005-present


(1) NFL on FOX vs. (8) NHL on NBC

The FOX NFL theme (now the generic FOX Sports theme, period) won 93% of its first round vote, the highest share of any matchup.

The NHL on NBC music survived a tough battle against the ESPN college hoops theme last round.



(2) NBC Sunday Night Football vs. (7) ESPN College Football Playoff

John Williams' Sunday Night Football theme cruised to an easy victory in round 1.

Football beat futbol in the all-ESPN 7-10 matchup, with the College Football Playoff music taking a nice 69% of the vote against the World Cup theme.



(3) SEC on CBS vs. (6) NBA on ESPN

Now we're down to, I think, the 2 toughest matchups of this entire round. The CBS SEC theme beat the TBS baseball theme 82-18% in round 1, but its opponent this time is a lot tougher.

It's the ABC/ESPN NBA theme, which took 72% in its first-round matchup.



(4) NFL on CBS vs. (5) NBA on TNT

The seeding committee may have screwed up here by ensuring that one of these will not make it to the sweet 16. The NFL on CBS theme "Posthumus Zone" won 79% of its first round vote.

Trevor Rabin's NBA on TNT's theme music won 70% of its vote over Yanni's NBC golf theme. It probably won't this time.


 

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