Big Game

"If I hurry, I can still make it to the BIG GAME!"

- Homestar Runner

"Hella Jeff, (sic): "bro i got a ticket for the BIG GAME (its sports)" Sweet Bro, (sic): "dog........ i AM SO JEALOUS you KNOW i love the the the big game.""

- Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff

The Big Game is the end all and be all of existence. The Opposing Sports Team is prepared to win, and everything is riding on the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits. There's some bet riding on the game where the orphanage/family restaurant/park/camp can only be saved by winning the Big Game. Alternatively, winning the Big Game may inspire the Littlest Cancer Patient to live.

Typical formula for a Big Game:
 * The first half of the game consists of the Opposing Sports Team ripping our heroes to shreds, building up a huge lead.
 * At the halftime break, the rest of the team has just about given up when the coach or team captain comes in with a heroic speech inspiring his team to greater heights against the unstoppable juggernaut. That, or they put in the one player who can make the difference.
 * The second half is the Miracle Rally; the fired-up underdogs close the gap to tie the game, usually with the help of a montage.
 * Finally, it comes down to the last play; the game is tied, or the Opposing Sports Team is just slightly ahead. There's just enough time for one more play, shot, or run. The entire game rides on this one. I'm sure we can all guess what happens next; the game is won in the most spectacular fashion possible... unless the trope is subverted to teach An Aesop about sportsmanship.

After all, blowouts only happen in real world Super Bowls and FIFA World Cups.

Not to be confused with a football game played by a couple California universities.

Advertising

 * Because the NFL takes commercial use of the term "Super Bowl" very seriously, ads for products that would be nice to have during the Super Bowl (e.g. snacks) but which have no particular sponsorship agreement with the NFL will sometimes use "the Big Game" as a transparent reference to the Super Bowl. The NFL tried to get a trademark on that term in 2006, but backed down after public ridicule and objections from UC Berkeley and Stanford, who have been holding the real "Big Game" since 1892 (28 years before the NFL even existed, and 75 years before the first Super Bowl).

Anime and Manga

 * While this is a stock trope in sports anime, Princess Nine plays with it in that.
 * Girls und Panzer features a Big Game between newcomer Oarai and the reigning champion Kuromorimine for the finale. The game?  Tankery -- tank warfare as a high school sport.  The stakes?

Film

 * The Longest Yard (both versions, as well as Mean Machine)
 * Lucas
 * They don't win in Lucas. Lucas doesn't catch the ball (though it was ruled a fumble apparently since the play was not whistled over.) and we never see the ending, though it is implied that they lose.
 * Mystery, Alaska, although the protagonists ultimately lose the game by one goal.
 * Not Another Teen Movie parodies this, specifically parodying both Varsity Blues and Lucas.
 * The Replacements
 * Varsity Blues
 * The Mighty Ducks and its sequels.
 * The Big Green
 * Remember the Titans
 * Subverted in Whip It; the teams are tied pretty much all the way through,
 * Leatherheads, although the protagonists ultimately
 * The Bad News Bears and its remake famously subverted this by
 * The Waterboy
 * Rookie of the Year
 * Angels in the Outfield and all of its remakes/sequels/spin-offs.
 * Major League and sequels. The first puts a memorable spin on the typical Down to the Last Play ending.
 * Bend It Like Beckham
 * The team was not a bunch of ragtags. They were one of the best teams in the league and if not the favorite to win that game, they certainly weren't a huge underdog.
 * The film of Friday Night Lights.
 * High School Musical, climax of the first movie and beginning of the third.
 * The Freshman
 * Horsefeathers
 * M*A*S*H
 * Slap Shot, although it skips the Miracle Rally part.
 * A very unusual example in the 1998 indie film Possums.
 * The Match (the film)

Live-Action TV

 * The Match (the TV show)
 * Several in the TV series Friday Night Lights.

Web Original

 * A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever. It's parodied, like all other tropes in it.