TV Madness 2017: The 100, Black Sails, Westworld, Stranger Things, more in play-in round

Can Black Sails, The 100, Westworld, Stranger Things, or someone else make it into the field of 32 in our TV Madness tournament? That’s what this article is effectively all about.

For this second edition of our now-annual tradition, we’ve taken some of the most-popular shows here among our readers and arranged them in a fun, NCAA Tournament style bracket. However, we also had a number of shows that couldn’t quite find a place within the bracket itself. This is what this article is effectively all about! We’ve got ten contenders here for a spot in the main field, and the winner of this vote-off will get to be a #7 seed up against This Is Us — which, admittedly, is not an easy show to face off against.

Voting for this round will be open from now until March 12. We’ve tried to arrange the image below as clearly as possible so that you know when each voting round begins across the board.

The 100 – It’s an epic show with an epic following, and we’ll see if they come out to make this a Cinderella story this year.

Arrow – We could almost say the same thing here — superhero fans go hard, and they may embrace Arrow as an underdog.

The Big Bang Theory – It’s the #1 comedy on TV, but it may be a long-shot to make it into the field of 32.

Black Sails – Can the pirate drama get a little bit of TV Madness for its final season?

Criminal Minds – How popular is the long-running procedural going to be this time around?

Empire – Just based on ratings alone, it had to be included somehow.

Grimm – Like with Black Sails, a trophy here would be a nice way to send things off for the year.

Scandal – Gladiators assemble! The drama may not be an underdog in many places, but it certainly is one here.

Stranger Things – It’s probably one of the favorites from this group to advance, though there are no guarantees.

Westworld – Finally, the HBO drama will look to capitalize on its runaway hit status from the fall.

There are no hard-and-vast rules for voting, but we do hope that everyone keeps things fun and light — the whole idea of TV Madness and every other feature we do at the site is to just keep people engaged and talking about some of their favorite shows! You’ve got a little bit of time to pick your favorite to advance here. Given that this is a large field, it felt appropriate not to rush it.