In the lull between the Super Bowl and the NBA and NHL playoffs, sports fans have developed an obsession called March Madness. Though it’s long been a popular event, the college basketball national championship has gotten bigger than ever in recent years.

Every office, bar, and fantasy league sets up brackets and every game is available for streaming — with websites even offering live in-game feeds and real-time stats. However, sometimes even all of this is not enough for hardcore fans.

Related: March Madness Invades Your Workplace

For those desiring even more emotion to go along with the competitive drama, there are some great basketball-themed motion pictures to fill that void.

Here’s a look at some to help you get in the mood for the mania of March Madness.

“Hoosiers,” 1986 — Any venture into basketball films has to begin here. Gene Hackman plays a coach in the 1950s who has a last chance after a shaky career. He takes over a small-town Indiana high school team with limited resources and the bare minimum of players. The citizens nearly run him out of town, but he brings an under-talented group to the state finals. What “Friday Night Lights” is to high school football, this title is the basketball equivalent. No basketball movie can be made today without being compared to “Hoosiers.”

“Hoop Dreams,” 1994 — Originally conceived as a PBS show about some youth at a playground, this documentary grew in scope and in length. The filmmakers began focusing on the lives and advancement of some of the young players through high school and college, shooting over the course of years. The feature-length film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and became arguably one of the best sports documentaries of all time.

“A film like ‘Hoop Dreams’ is what the movies are for. It takes us, shakes us, and makes us think in new ways about the world around us. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself,” wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert in his review of the film.

“Glory Road,” 2006 — Focusing on the 1966 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, this true story centers on the fate of the team from Texas Western College. Josh Lucas plays the head coach who takes the team to the tournament with a racially integrated roster. Then for the final game against the #1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, he decides to field an all-black team — for the first time in NCAA history.

“Coach Carter,” 2005 — Samuel L. Jackson plays the role of real-life coach Ken Carter, who takes the reins of his high school alma mater in Richmond, California. Seeing a team with no discipline, he demands the players sign contracts stipulating they attend classes and maintain minimum grade levels. He molds the team into an undefeated force — but once he learns they have been violating his pledges, he locks the gym and refuses to let them play. Gradually, the players turn their grades around and manage to fulfill their obligations and return to the court as the state finals begin. Jackson is the key to this film and pulls it up from a tepid, maudlin drama to something genuinely inspirational.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

[lz_ndn video=32117516]

“Space Jam,” 1996 — Basketball superstar Michael Jordan teams with the animated Looney Tunes for this alternate reality classic comedy romp, with Bill Murray even joining in for some reason. Over the years, this film has become very divisive for movie fans; half the people love it as a comedy, half love it as a bad cinematic classic. It’s a film that has only grown in reputation over the years, and it’s one the whole family can enjoy. On a side note: There’s a rumored sequel in the works with LeBron James taking the franchise reins from Jordan.

“White Men Can’t Jump,” 1992 — This is a classic comedy starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson about a pair of asphalt basketball hustlers. Snipes is a fast-talking huckster with skills, while Harrelson’s character excels by allowing the predominantly black players to severely underestimate him. Eventually they team up, with Snipes posturing that the other team can pick any player around to pair him with — the marks always resorting to the “chump” white guy (Harrelson) in the crowd. Great dialogue and chemistry among the characters created a film that displays a genuine affection for the game and the relationships it can create.

“Go Man, Go,” 1954 — If you’re looking for a complete change of pace, there is this ’50s offering about the formation of the Harlem Globetrotters. With issues of race onscreen, there were also issues with the Russian Scare offscreen. Screenwriter and producer Alfred Palca was blacklisted and had to give his film credits to family members in order to get the movie made. There is also an early film appearance by screen legend Sidney Poitier as one of the Globetrotters. This is a historic roundball curio.