MIAMI — This is the closest we get in sports to sheer rhapsody, right? The next few weeks. Especially the next few days.
We see a pristine, untouched NCAA Tournament bracket as we would a breathtaking sunrise, or a first born in a nursery. It is a document almost holy, the very proof of possibility.
The words leave our lips like prayer. March Madness.
Done with the pointless perfunctory of the play-in games, the final 64-team field tips off Thursday for the men and Friday for the women, and this year it feels especially big because we are welcoming back an old friend: Normalcy.
Two years ago March Madness was swallowed up whole, canceled altogether by the mushrooming COVID-19 pandemic. It felt almost blasphemous to erase our annual communal worship, maybe the only religion we can all agree on, but for many of us it was the first hard reality. ‘Whoa. This coronavirus [bleep] ain’t playin’.’
Last year the Madness returned, but only sort of, confined to in and around Indianapolis and played before very limited crowds.
Now? (Cue Dick Vitale). WE’RE BACK, BAYBEEEE!
Both Miami Hurricanes teams are in it. Jim Larranaga’s No. 10 seed men open Friday at 3:10 p.m. vs. No. 7 USC in Greenville, S.C. Katie Meier’s No. 8 UM women also open Friday with the distinction of being the first full-slate game, at 11:30 a.m. vs. No. 9 South Florida four hours away in Columbia, S.C.
Miami’s men seek their first NCAA tourney win since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2016. The women last won a postseason game in 2019 but never have advanced past the second round.
Is this the year? Maybe?
That is the very point of March Madness. It is a hope machine. A dream factory. Davids with slingshots ready. A three-week orgy of hoops — the original binge TV.
This is where “The Underdog” has a pedestal waiting, if only he or she can find it, and climb it. They call it The Big Dance. We pray Cinderella will be on the floor.
The Underdog is the mythic power driving the popularity of March Madness, every bit as much as the brackets and office pools and the alumni pride and the gambling.
The Underdog is what draws us in even if we have no alma mater in the hunt and no wagers placed.
Our rational side knows it’s mostly fallacy. In the history of the 64-team format, since 1985, a No. 1 seed has played a No. 16 seed 144 times. Goliath has won 143 times. The lone exception UMBC (Maryland-Baltimore County) stunning Virginia in 2018. A player named Jairus Lyles was the hero. He plays now for a team called Krka in the Slovenia.
He had his shining moment, though. And always will.
Our collective fascination with The Underdog is very American, dating to Ellis Island.
We love The Underdog, because most of us can relate. We are The Underdog.
It is what most of us see in the mirror.
Most of us are not Coach K and Duke. We are Jairus Lyle and UMBC.
We keep rooting for the underdog for the same reason we keep playing the lottery. Beating the odds does happen.
From a study by the Journal of Consumer Research: “American culture, laws and social norms enable and encourage underdogs to prosper, in contrast to the nations where an individual’s passion and determination may do little to combat rigid class or caste structures which favor the status-endowed.”
The study suggested Americans buy into the underdog narrative because it mirrors the idea of the American Dream: Defying odds through sheer will. The idea that the other team’s roster of blue-chip recruiting, glamour coach and high seed can be overcome.
The NCAA Tournament is not full of rags to riches stories waiting to blossom. But they are there. Every year. Dormant, and waiting for a spark.
A 2018 Baylor study even suggested schadenfreude may be involved — deriving pleasure from another’s misfortune.
“We end up rooting more for the underdogs over the ‘winning’ team because we may be unconsciously envious that they are doing well,” said Dr. Asim Shah of Baylor’s Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. “Which is why if the underdog team pulls out a win, we don’t feel badly that the favorite team lost.”
Wrote Matt Johnson, Ph.D., in Psychology Today: “The underdog story has universal appeal and reliably drives feelings of empathy. They tap into the qualities we like best about ourselves and find most admirable in others. We love underdog stories because we feel like they need us.”
So over the next few days, we forage for an underdog to get behind.
Davidson, alma mater of Woodrow Wilson, with its total enrollment of 1,983. Murray State and Akron. The Vermont Catamounts, Montana State Bobcats, Bryant Bulldogs and South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
(Did you know that the Miami Hurricanes’ official basketball fight song is called “Miami U How-Dee-Doo”?)
Wait. Can’t forget. The Loyola Ramblers are back, and that means team chaplain Sister Jean is back. At age 102.
We met Sister Jean in 2018. She is said to be in good health and reportedly will be courtside Friday in Pittsburgh when underdog Loyola plays its first game vs. Ohio State.
OK, then. It’s set. Bracket completed and an underdog shall reign.
Championship game prediction: Sister Jean’s Ramblers vs. the Saint Peter’s Peacocks!
Who’s with me?
