wild card round
Non-division-winner's game
The wild card round is the first round of playoffs in professional sports leagues, where teams that qualified without winning their division compete for advancement.
In the NFL, wild card teams are those with the best records among non-division winners: They lost in the wild card round to a team they'd beaten twice in the regular season.
The format varies by sport and has expanded over time.
- playoffsChampionship elimination series
- bracketSupport or category
- eliminationAct of removing entirely
- upsetDisturb, topple, or shock
- underdogPresumed loser beforehand
seeding · postseason · tournament · matchup · divisional · single elimination · contender · January · football · NFL · standings · overtime · momentum · fourth quarter · road game · road warrior · home field · lower seed
- competition roundsfinals, semifinals, quarterfinals, preliminaries, heats
- playoff stagesquarterfinal, semifinal, final, sweet sixteen, championship game
- tournament roundsqualifier, quarterfinals, semifinals, finals, playoff game
- tournament termsbracket, playoff bracket, semifinals, quarterfinals, finals
- NFL seasonregular season, preseason, playoffs, Super Bowl, offseason
- championship gameschampionship game, grand final, cup final, title match, finals series
wild card roundbye week
Scheduled break from play
division winner · top seed · number one seed · divisional round · conference championship
wild card roundchampionship game
Contest determining the champion
finals · Super Bowl · World Series · NBA Finals · final round
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