The Best Pop Culture Jerks Bracket: The Sweet 16

So here we are. After two days of competitive jerkery, it’s time to move on to the sections of the bracket that get labeled with an adjective. That’s right, folks: It’s the Sweet 16.

The round of 32 saw some matchups with incredibly thin margins, but just as in Round 1, a number of face-offs weren’t even close. That doesn’t mean yesterday didn’t contain any surprises—there were plenty of them. All in all, seven out of the 16 encounters resulted in upsets by the lower seed, including the downfall of our first 1-seed. It’s now anyone’s guess how the rest of the tournament will proceed, but one thing’s for sure: It won’t be all chalk.

Pour one (or several) out for some iconic figures in particular, whose universal recognition wasn’t enough to defeat some truly special—and dickish—jerks. Humble Steve Stifler took down 85-year-old Bugs Bunny, who, according to Guinness World Records, has appeared in more movies than any other cartoon character and is the ninth-most portrayed film personality of all time. So long, doc! Elsewhere, Chicago’s own Ferris Bueller sneaked past Loki with just 53 percent of the vote, while the Grinch and Ron Burgundy fell to Selina Meyer and Kenny Powers, respectively.

All of this means that cultural ubiquity isn’t enough to win The Ringer’s Best Pop Culture Jerks Bracket—to prevail, you have to dig deep into your soul and demonstrate how simultaneously despicable and lovable you are. It’s a tough act to balance, and with just 16 jerks remaining, someone’s bound to get hurt or—in the case of judging bad people—play just a little too nice.

The stage is set for an epic Sweet 16. Let’s continue with the Great Jerk-Off.

Voting on the Sweet 16 is officially open. Remember: You can place votes here, on X, and on Instagram until 6 p.m. ET. Voting will go as follows:

Wednesday: Sweet 16
Thursday a.m.: Elite Eight
Thursday p.m.: Final Four
Friday: Championship
Saturday: Winner revealed

The Waterbury Open

The Last 10-Seed Standing

Round 2 contained potent underdogs such as J. Jonah Jameson, Jim Halpert, Jerry Mouse, and Phil Connors, but heading into the Sweet 16, Bill Lumbergh is the only seed worse than no. 8 remaining. You could argue the Office Space star is as strong a 10-seed as it gets, but nevertheless, the Initech division vice president has nowhere to look but up. Fortunately, Lumbergh has been blessed with a matchup against a 6-seed—Stifler from American Pie—so there might be more pages left in our de facto Cinderella story. Say what you will, but if you can go ahead and stop doubting my guy Bill, that would be great.

The Matchups

Hill Valley High

Battle of the ’80s Stars

Which is the more quintessential mid-’80s movie: Back to the Future or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Answers will vary, but when it comes to choosing between their respective contestants, there can be only one. Biff is one of the defining pop culture jerks of his era, maybe of the entire 20th century, and his seeding reflects that. Ferris, on the other hand, is less of a conventional jerk—and he’s the protagonist of his movie—but just look at the way he treats his “best friend,” Cameron. There’s possibly a more sinister and manipulative manifestation of jerkiness when it comes to Ferris, but is that enough to top one of cinema’s all-time-great bullies? We shall see.

The Matchups

Tom’s Restaurant

Seinfeld Vs. Seinfeld … to Face Seinfeld?

As a member of The Ringer’s editorial staff who has overseen multiple pop culture brackets, I can assure you the seeding process is a sacred and time-honored tradition. We take these things extremely seriously. So … how did this Seinfeld showdown in potentially back-to-back rounds come to be arranged? I don’t know; ask Jaime Lannister and Lucille Bluth why they didn’t put up more of a fight! (In fairness to Lucille, she lost to Newman by only roughly 2,100 votes out of more than 27,000.) That’s just how the cookie crumbled, and now Seinfeld-affiliated characters have befittingly taken over the Tom’s Restaurant region. At least one is going through to the Elite Eight, likely to face Larry David. But will Johnny Lawrence have anything to say about that? He’ll need to harness all of his Cobra Kai training to have any chance of preventing what some might describe as the true People’s Championship.

The Matchups

Bikini Bottom

Here Lie Squidward’s Hopes and Dreams

Oh, Squidward. At the end of the day, you always just want to go home and lie back in bed. I expect nothing less from our introverted and increasingly relatable-with-age king. Squidward stuck around until the Elite Eight in 2021’s Nickelodeon Bracket, but this time, he couldn’t outlast the round of 32. Squidward is a very good Nicktoon but an even better—dare I say legendary—jerk, hence his 1-seed. Ultimately, he fell to Gob Bluth, who now has to face the sneakily scary Cartman.

Roman vs. Han promises to be a tantalizing clash, as well. Han is one of film’s most recognizable and enduring jerks, but he’s coming up against a standout character in one of TV’s greatest-ever shows, which just happened to conclude a few months ago. Will nostalgia or recency bias win out? I can’t wait to find out.

The Matchups

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Remember, voting closes at 6 p.m. ET. Come back tomorrow for a breakdown of the Elite Eight.