wild card game
Non-division-winner's chance
A wild card game is a playoff contest in sports leagues where teams that didn't win their divisions compete for advancement.
The wild card—a team qualifying despite not finishing first—gets a shot at the postseason through this additional round.
The Yankees host a wild card game tonight.
Most common in baseball and American football contexts.
- playoffContest deciding advancement
- playoff spotEarned tournament qualification
- underdogPresumed loser beforehand
- dark horseUnlikely but possible winner
- upsetDisturb, topple, or shock
elimination · one and done · do or die · postseason · knockout · joker · unpredictable · contender · bracket · single elimination · sudden death · road team · home field · home field advantage · rivalry · overtime · berth · seed
- tournament roundsfirst round, second round, third round, final round, opening round
- baseball seasonregular season, playoffs, postseason, World Series, spring training
- MLB PlayoffsALCS, NLCS, NLDS, World Series, pennant
- sports gamesMadden NFL, NBA 2K, NHL, NBA Live, Wii Sports
- tournamentstournament, tournaments, bracket, brackets, tournament brackets
wild card gamedivision championship
Title within a league section
wild card gamechampionship game
Contest determining the champion
Super Bowl · World Series · bye week · finals · conference championship
wild card gameSuper Bowl
Pro football championship
World Series · NBA Finals · conference finals · regular season game · preseason game
wild, card, game, wilds, wilder, wildest, wildly, wildness, wilderness