The Minnesota State Screaming Eagles have been my favorite college football team for a long time. Hayden Fox (Craig T. Nelson) is their head coach. His top assistant coaches are defensive coordinator Luther Van Dam (Jerry Van Dyke) and eternal student Michael "Dauber" Dybinski (Bill Fagerbakke). Christine Armstrong (Shelley Fabares) is Hayden's very patient girlfriend and eventual wife. In earlier seasons Clare Carey plays Hayden's daughter Kelly. Her mime husband who ended up cheating on and leaving her was Stuart Rosebrock (Kris Kamm). Howard Burleigh (Kenneth Kimmins) is the athletic director. Georgia Engel recurs as Howard's wife Shirley, and Pam Stone recurs as Dauber's girlfriend and Hayden's nemesis Judy Watkins. Coach aired 9 seasons on ABC from 1989-1997. Seasons 8 and 9 moved away from Minnesota State, Hayden and crew became coaches for the NFL's new expansion team the Orlando Breakers. Katherine Helmond starred as the owner Doris Sherman.
How it got this far
1st Round: defeated Hope and Faith 9-3

There has been much debate about what genre The Jack Benny Program fits into. I successfully got it declared a sitcom here with its own board. Antenna TV probably agrees as their lineup is all sitcoms besides Johnny Carson. One of the early TV transplants from radio shows, The Jack Benny Program aired a very long lasting 15 seasons from 1950-1965 on CBS, which beats Ozzie and Harriet in season count but widely trailing on episode count. Jack played himself. There were two settings for his life: at his house with butler Rochester Van Jones (Eddie Anderson), who was the first black regular on a TV show besides Beulah. The other setting was his staged variety show that had several big name guests from the time. Don Wilson was the variety show announcer and Dennis Day was the regular singer.
How it got this far
1st Round: defeated Welcome Back, Kotter 6-5

The Jack Benny Program defeats Coach 9-1 and will advance to the 3rd round.

Jack Benny!