Underdogs teach lesson

Column: From the Bleachers

Normally, I love a good underdog story. Rooting for the nobody's to beat the kings, and watching it happen, usually makes me feel good, with a sense of "anything is possible."

Apparently, I should have kept that mentality when I was filling out my NCAA men's basketball bracket. Instead, I assumed the teams that were seeded at the top would beat the teams seeded at the bottom. It seemed logical at the time.

But that's the good part of an underdog story, no one sees it coming.

Yes, I picked Northern Iowa to win in the first round, but was blind sided as much as the rest of America by its win in the second round, especially since it was over heavily-favored Kansas. I didn't watch that game, as I thought Kansas had it in the bag.

Wrong assumption number one.

I also didn't foresee St. Mary's to make it out of the first round and figured Villanova had a paved road to the Elite Eight.

Wrong assumptions number two and three.

Ohio also pulled off an upset over third seed Georgetown. Than Cornell made my bracket bleed more with wins over a fifth seed and a fourth seed.

I learned my lesson, but it's too late to go back and change my bracket. Then Xavier twisted the knife as it beat Pittsburgh. I watched that game and gave up cheering for Pittsburgh halfway through, sensing how things were going.

Even in my family's pool, I'm holding down last place solidly, much to the enjoyment of my brother. Even from afar, that kid is finding ways to trash talk my ear off. One could say I was favored this year after winning it last year, but this year is the year of the underdog, and my mom is sitting pretty in first place. My mom isn't one to pick her winners based on each team's colors, what mascot she prefers, or if someone's sister's best friend goes there, but she doesn't spend countless hours researching the teams.

The office bracket is mimicking the NCAA one. The leaders are people not expected to be at the top but apparently have more smarts than the rest of us to make it there.

David leads the pack with 36 points. You get one point for a correct prediction and none for a wrong one. He has a perfect West region bracket so far and has only taken 13 losses. Seven of his predicted Elite Eight are still alive.

Earl falls in second with 31 points. In the West region, he only has one wrong guess but his predicted champion, Maryland, is now out of the running following a loss to Michigan State.

Sasha and I are tied for third with 29 and Sasha's chosen champions, Wisconsin, were ousted by Cornell.

Everything is up in the air, as more upsets could be coming our way, or since we assume there will be more upsets, the top seeds might start winning.

Either way, it's getting good and even though David is looking more like Goliath at this point, I'm not going to assume he is going to win the contest. I've learned my lesson on assumptions.