J.K. Rolling

Author: Jeff Klein

It's that time of year, ladies and gentlemen. The most glorious time of the year; the time that causes employees to miss work and students to "forget" about their assignments. In the words of Dickie V, "It's March Madness, Babyyyyyyy!!!!!"

This year, the field is ripe with talent. Florida looks poised to defend last year's national title, UCLA appears ready to avenge last year's championship defeat at the hands of the Gators (despite an ugly loss to California in the PAC-10 tournament) and Kansas has more than enough talent to advance deep into the tournament after egregious first-round losses the past two years to Bucknell and Bradley. But in our constant obsession with the "favorites," the teams that get all the hype and media adulation, let me present you with an idea: root for the underdogs.

George Mason's remarkable run to the Final Four in last year's tournament was not only unprecedented, it was unbelievably exciting. It captivated the nation. For at least a few short weeks, the Patriots were the most talked-about team in America. George Mason's run also served as a wake-up call to biased sports commentators like CBS's Billy Packer who only consider traditional major programs worthy of getting any attention and at-large consideration to the field of 65. Yes, the small commuter college in Washington D.C. provided limitless hope to all mid-major schools that they could live the dream and compete with the big boys.

Rooting for underdogs is a lot more fun than rooting for favorites. It's the whole idea of the little guy rising to the occasion and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to emerge victorious. Think back to some of the amazing upsets that have occurred in March Madness over the past few decades. In 1985, a Villanova squad seeded eighth in the tournament upended heavily-favored and number-one seeded Georgetown, who featured future NBA great Patrick Ewing. Nobody thought Villanova would win. That's what made its victory over Georgetown more exciting when it actually happened.

Fast forward 13 years. Who can forget Valparaiso guard Bryce Drew's buzzer-beating three-pointer in the first round of the 1998 NCAA tournament to upset Ole Miss? After the shot, the Valparaiso team collapsed in a heap on the floor like little kids. The sheer joy of the moment was palpable.

Two first-round upsets from the '05 Tournament will probably be talked about for years to come. Behind the clutch play of guard T.J. Sorrentine, 13th-seeded Vermont defeated fourth-seeded Syracuse in an overtime thriller. Perhaps even more exciting was last year's 14th-seeded Bucknell's one-point victory over third-seeded Kansas. Here was a Kansas team that had national championship aspirations. Few could have imagined them losing in the first round to a small liberal arts school with no standout playersÖbut it happened.

My point: upsets are amazing. They provide excitement and unpredictability. Some people might say, "Oh, upsets just make the later rounds less exciting." That's fallacious. Who can say after George Mason's run, including victories over UNC and top-ranked UConn, that the later rounds weren't exciting? Upsets make the tournament that much better. So I'll definitely be rooting for, and expecting, some big upsets in this year's tournament. Hey, it's called March Madness for a reason.