Let's Dance

The Wisconsin Badgers have fallen to the ferocious Panthers of High Point University.

The Siena Saints had a five-point lead on the tournament favorite Duke Blue Devils with less than eight minutes remaining. Even more remarkable? Siena played the same five players for the entire game.

Only one thing is certain: March Madness is officially underway.

While the inevitable hope of the NCAA Tournament is to crown a champion who is playing the best basketball in the nation at the end of the season, that isn't the focus of these first few days. No, this first weekend is about the underdog. A modern day David and Goliath played out on the hardwood. Who doesn't love a win for the little guy?

I'll tell you who. Zion Williamson.

If you don't remember Zion or don't know who he is, see below:

Zion Williamson, The New York Post

Zion Williamson was one of those rare basketball players who everyone knew would be an NBA lottery pick before he'd ever played a college game. It didn't take many games at Duke University before people realized he would be the first player selected by a fortuitous NBA team.

There are many things that could be written about Zion's positive basketball accolades, but one of my favorite things about him is his take on The Avengers.

In a press-conference following his selection as the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Zion confessed that his favorite character in the Avengers movies is Thanos.

Kind of a unique choice, right?

In the video (which is linked above), Zion explains that he cheers for Thanos because if Avengers: Endgame was realistic, Thanos who would win ("because he is the strongest").

I always thought this was a funny take because I figured Zion probably related to Thanos. Like Thanos, Zion had always been the strongest. He had never played a basketball game against someone as big and athletic as him. He was a physical nightmare for his opponents all through high school and into college (and for that reason, he won a lot).

But like Thanos, Zion eventually met his match: His Duke team lost in the Elite Eight of the 2019 NCAA Tournament to a well-organized Michigan State team.

That said, the point of this post is not to say, "See Zion? It is realistic for a well-organized team to take down the bad guy, even if he is the strongest."

(Although, that did kind of happen).

Rather, I'd prefer to highlight a mental perspective that is often forgotten:

The mindset of the favorite.

In the month of March, we romanticize the underdogs. The Cinderellas. The "nobodies".

When the underdog wins, the commentators regurgitate the same nauseating story of how "Nobody believed in them!" and that the team is "Just a bunch of guys who needed a chance!"

We watch as their coaches pound their chest, shouting to sideline reporters-

"Nobody would play us... But they gotta play us in this tournament".

-Flynn Clayman, High Point Head Coach, yesterday

When underdogs lose a close game, we talk about how much heart they have. We highlight their effort. We applaud their ability to get beaten in a respectable way.

And when they lose badly...well, that's what was supposed to happen.

For an underdog, the only obstacle you have to overcome is the reality that you are most likely not as talented as the team you are playing against. Beyond that, you have nothing to lose other than the game itself.

But what about the favorite?

They have more talented players. Probably better coaching. Ideally, a combination of both.

In theory, they have every advantage you could want.

And yet, they have a terrible liability that the underdogs lack: Expectations. Both their own, and those that belong to other people.

When expectations related to results are attached to a team or player's performance, a game is no longer just a game. Rather, it is a performance that will be used as an evaluation tool to determine whether or not somebody is who we thought they were.

Players and coaches know when these expecations are placed upon them. They hear it from the media. From their fans. Heck, they hear it from each other.

In some ways, this can be a good thing. When fatigue starts to set in and focus begins to waiver, these external pressures can offer the push an athlete or team needs to get back on track. The fear of failure can be a strong motivator.

But in the final moments of a close game , the favorite doesn't need that extra push. At that point in time, expectations are nothing more than added noise to disrupt mental clarity. They are a voice in a player's head that says-

"If you mess this up, not only will you lose the game, but people will think less of you."

Meanwhile, the underdog-opposition has begun to believe in themselves. The less capable team has fooled itself into thinking it is just as good as the favorite.

If you ask me, playing under these conditions can be a much more difficult task than pulling off a random upset.

And yet, this is the position that the greatest teams and players want to be in.

The teams that win and the players that go down in history- They spend countless hours, days, and weeks during their offseason getting comfortable being uncomfortable. They purposely work to build these expectations up so that when the moment matters the most:

They can be dream-killers.

For me, this is the ultimate viewing experience as a fan. To see a talented player combine their developed skill with the mental fortitude necessary to cast aside doubts and deliver a critical blow is one of the most satisfying things in sport.

It's the Albert Pujols moonshot off of Brad Lidge in the 2005 NLCS that stunned Minute Maid Park.

The Steph Curry golden dagger that silenced France at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The Shaun White "run of a lifetime" at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchange.

Most sports are riddled with failure. A great three-point shooter only makes about 40% of his shots. Good hitters in baseball get on base in just over a third of their appearances at the plate. PGA Tour golfers only make half their putts from eight feet away.

Yet, when the season is on the line, we expect our favorite athletes to forget the statistics (because we have) and come through with the big play in the exact moment we need it.

And somehow...sometimes they do.

So as I watch the madness unfold in the coming weeks, I will cheer for the underdogs, but I will admire the dream-killers. Perhaps you will do the same.

Because Cinderellas only have to exceed their own expecations. The favorites are expected to satisfy everyone else's.