March Madness is here. A time of excitement, anticipation and heartbreak for college basketball fans across the nation. Those lucky enough to see their team make the Big Dance in a 64-team battle royal will eagerly fill out their tournament brackets. The bracket itself has spawned competition around the country and even developed its own subject, convincing people that they know everything there is to know about “bracketology.” The study of college basketball has led many sports media outlets to embrace the movement; ESPN has its own bracketology section on its website. 

But, they don’t call it March Madness because the better teams always win. March Madness is about the underdogs forcing their way to the national championship. It’s almost a guarantee that the top four teams won’t make it to the Final Four, to do so would be much tougher than a less-talented team derailing the chance of glory.

College basketball has been more uncertain than any other time in history. While Gonzaga holds the top spot followed by Indiana, Duke and Kansas, each of these teams has the worst luck in the tournament, Gonzaga only made it to the Sweet Sixteen one of the past five years, Indiana in the tournament twice in the past five years, Duke facing upsets two years after its national championship, Kansas losing three straight years in the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and the national championship, and the possibility of an upset late in the regular season is still alive.

It may seem like the lower teams should focus the most on their goals, but it’s the top ten who have the odds stacked against them. Every year, at least one juggernaut goes down in the first round. Last year included Duke at the hands of 15-seed Lehigh, and Duke losing to Norfolk State. That’s the irony of March Madness. The team that, by talent alone, is most likely to win the national championship has to focus on its first game to move forward rather than looking at the bigger prize. The team that needs to win six straight games to win cannot concentrate on the trophy. They must take it one step at a time.

For the teams with less potential, the Big Dance is similar to the kid who only has to beat you one time to be declared the best, no matter how many times you’ve beat him before. These teams know they have nothing to lose. And that’s what makes them dangerous. They take risks and push the limits while their opponents take caution in preparation for the next game. To win just one game against a better team would give them instant recognition. They probably couldn’t beat that team again, but they did the one time it matters.

The teams that don’t have as much talent are arguably more stable and consistent than the best teams in the country. They haven’t had to deal with media coverage, the attitudes of exceptional players and the turmoil that comes with big campus sports. They’ve spent a whole year under the radar, preparing for their chance to make college sports history. History’s examples include George Mason, the team that forced its way through the Final Four in 2009, VCU, another small university that made the Final Four in 2010 and Butler, the Cinderella story that proved too good to be true when Connecticut finally stopped them in the 2011 National Championship.

I don’t know what it is about March Madness that selects one team over the other. It could be preparation, it could be the tough schedule of six straight games or it could be the heightening emotion after every win, like playing a high stakes poker match. But, I love it. The 64 teams draw a multitude of fans to hope, and the guaranteed upsets lure others to eagerly watch. There is no doubt that this tournament will be filled with uncertainty, excitement and madness. This year is the year of the underdog.