Sports

Science Shows March Madness Fans Cannot Resist an Underdog

Published

10 years ago

March 18, 2015

In this Friday, March 16, 2012 file photo, Lehigh’s Gabe Knutson (42), B.J. Bailey (32), Jordan Hamilton (44), Holden Greiner (20), John Adams (4) and Justin Maneri (31) celebrate after winning an NCAA tournament second-round college basketball game against Duke in Greensboro, N.C. Lehigh won 75-70. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer

If you got that warm-‘n-fuzzy feeling the weekend Lehigh beat Duke or the year N.C. State socked Phi Slama Jama or the time Butler almost did it, you are not alone.

The science shows, again and again, that we can’t resist pulling for the teams called the Anteaters (that’s UC Irvine). Or for the UABs of the world to upend the UCLAs. For the time-tested crowd pleaser, the No. 12 seed, and for anyone else with the label ‘underdog’ when March Madness rolls around.

About a dozen studies over the past 25 years have shown, in one way or another, that we, as sports fans, are inexorably drawn to the team with the odds stacked against it.

“It’s the prominent narrative in sports,” said Nadav Goldschmied of University of San Diego, who collaborated on one of the studies.

This penchant runs counter to almost everything else we’re wired to think. Scientific studies show people want to be associated with success and that our self-esteem grows when we’re part of the “in” crowd. Walk one well-dressed job candidate through the door, then follow him up with a schlub, and the studies show the majority of us favor the person who appears more attractive, almost regardless of their credentials.

But take that same dynamic into a sporting contest, where it’s a scraggly No. 14 seed against a polished No. 3, and the perceptions change.

One of Goldschmied’s studies had people watch a basketball game between two relatively unknown European teams after reading different write-ups about the rivalry. One group was led to believe Team A had won the last 15 meetings; the other was led to believe Team B had won all those games. Who they rooted for tilted based on who they considered the underdog.

Furthermore, in both cases, the team perceived as the underdog was viewed as the team giving more effort with less ability.

“That’s just the story we tell ourselves,” Goldschmied said. “We don’t have to look too deep to figure it out.”

One minor detail: It’s not always true.

Another study conducted by an Ohio State professor showed that groups that felt they had more to lose actually tried harder, which basically tears apart the whole theory that the Lafayettes, Eastern Washingtons and Belmonts of the world will be laying more on the line this week than Kentucky, Kansas and Wisconsin.

In this study, college students were asked to perform a simple task, and were told a group of students from another specific college was doing the same work.

In the studies where one of the competing schools was listed appreciably higher in the U.S. News and World Report college rankings, the students from that school completed about 30 percent more of the task — in short, they worked harder — than when they were competing against a college ranked better or equal to theirs.

Conclusion: “The motivation gains were there when students felt their group’s superior status was threatened,” said the study’s co-author, Robert Lount of Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business.

“We came at it from a completely different angle, which was, we know we like to avoid losing more than we appreciate the joy of winning,” Lount said. “If you think of your own team as favored, the team may work especially hard to make sure it comes out on top.”

For all our love of underdogs, there are a few exceptions.

If a person has a specific rooting interest in a team — say the college they graduated from — they tend to favor that team, even if the team isn’t the underdog.

It helps explain a study that found when big-conference teams are seeded better in games against mid-majors in the tournament, the Vegas point spread for the big-conference teams is inflated by an average of about two points a game.

“You look at the power conferences, and you see their following is much stronger than those of the smaller schools,” said the study’s co-author, Jim Lackritz, a statistics expert at San Diego State. “People put their money where their hearts are and that drives the line up.”

All of which could serve as good advice for people picking against point spreads over the next few weeks.

The majority of us, though, will fill out brackets — no point spreads involved — based on feel and feeling. Many will pay scant attention to the fact that double-digit seeds have won a mere 41 of 172 games during the opening week — less than 24 percent — over the past five years.

Seems like more, doesn’t it?

Well, we’re wired to remember it that way.

Quick quiz: Who won the fight at the end of the first “Rocky” movie?

Answer: Apollo Creed.

But in a study Goldschmied is currently conducting, he said a majority of those asked answered “Rocky.”

“We will bend our memory,” Goldschmied said. “We have forced our memory to change just to fit the underdog story. It’s because of the underdog mode in all of us.”

___

Follow Eddie Pells on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/epells

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McClymonds High Names School Gym for Star Graduate, Basketball Legend Bill Russell

William “Bill” Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, and died on July 31, 2022. He achieved fame as a U.S. professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career.

Published

2 months ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Bill Russell and Brian McGhee in McClymonds High School Gym, 2011. Photo courtesy of Brian McGhee.

By Ken Epstein

West Oakland’s McClymonds High School, “the School of Champions,” this week named the school’s gymnasium in honor of one of its most famous graduates, basketball legend Bill Russell (class of ’52).

Russell is widely known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In 2011, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civil honor, from President Barack Obama for Russell’s contributions to basketball and the Civil Rights Movement.

The McClymonds’ naming ceremony was held on Wednesday, the same day as Russell’s birthday. Oakland leader Bill Patterson, a longtime friend of Russell’s, was scheduled to cut the ribbon at the reopening of the gym, which had been closed for several months for renovation. Russell’s daughter Karen was scheduled to attend the ribbon cutting.

Russell’s name and signature are now printed on the gymnasium floor.

Patterson was working at DeFremery Park when he met Russell. “I befriended him as a boy and during his years at University of San Francisco” said Patterson. “We stayed friends for the rest of his life.”

Said McClymonds Principal Darielle Davis, herself a McClymonds graduate, “We are excited to honor Bill Russell for his sports accolades and because he broke color barriers. He is part of our legacy, and legacy is really important at McClymonds.”

Brian McGhee, community schools manager at McClymonds and former football player at UC Berkeley, said that Russell meant a lot to him and others at the school. “He was a beacon of light and hope for West Oakland,” he said. “He did a lot for sports and for civil rights.”

Starting in 2018, Ben “Coach” Tapscott worked with Patterson and other McClymonds grads, community members, and former coaches to encourage the Oakland Board of Education to endorse the naming of the school gym, which finally happened recently.

“We worked hard to make this happen,” said Tapscott. “He’s an important part of McClymond’s history, along with a lot of other famous graduates,” he said.

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OPINION: Politics, Football and Identity in Trump’s America

If you haven’t noticed, all Americans are engaged in an even bigger game that means so much more than the Super Bowl. Our democracy is falling apart.

Published

2 months ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Emil Guillermo

Two Filipino American stories made headlines recently.

First, Nikko Remigio, the Filipino and African American kick returner for the Kansas City Chiefs, did not win Super Bowl LIX.

The other, Alameda’s Rob Bonta said no to running for governor. I don’t blame him. It’s not like a mass of people wanted him to run.

But I did.

Whenever there is a Filipino American in a place you don’t expect, I’m rooting for that person.

As California’s Attorney General, Bonta is probably the most active defender among Blue States pushing back against Trump’s Extreme-Right agenda.

I’d like to Bonta run for California’s top job, but he’s better off waiting in line. The Democrats need a spot for Kamala Harris, and Bonta not running obliges the hierarchy.

History can wait. Bonta’s just 52.

Harris has held off speculation of her next move, saying she just moved back to the state. But it seems governor is the path for her.

For now, Bonta needs to continue taking the fight to Trump in the courts.

Football and Identity Politics

My dad, whose birthday would have been Super Bowl weekend, came to the US in 1928 as a colonized Filipino, an “American National,” where he couldn’t be a citizen, vote, own property or even marry the person he wanted.

Not if they were White.

Still, he believed in America. He never gave up.

Sort of like Nikko Remigio.

My dad would have loved Nikko.

If you haven’t noticed, all Americans are engaged in an even bigger game that means so much more than the Super Bowl. Our democracy is falling apart.

You want to get passionate about Eagles and Chiefs?

Let’s be passionate about our Founding Fathers, too.

Nikko didn’t change the game. He touched it three times and provided more yards than all of KC’s running backs.

That’s all I needed to see.

He’s our Filipino guy.

Detractors may call it “identity politics.”

People don’t seem to understand the fight for visibility. To be recognized. To be seen. It’s all wrapped up in the big idea of Civil Rights.

I was nowhere near as good as Nikko when I played. But when you are blessed to play football, you play your hardest.

For me, that was when I was 12 and 13 playing Pop Warner football in San Francisco. I was MVP for my team as a running back.

But I was ashamed of my dad. He wasn’t like the other dads. And I remember going to the team banquet to retrieve my trophy alone.

I didn’t realize it probably meant more to him than I thought.

I wish I had shared my MVP moment with him like Nikko shared his joy with his dad, Mark, born in Seattle to two Filipino immigrants, and his mom, whose mixture of Black and White made Nikko the picture of diversity.

Filipino American and Black and White at the Super Bowl.

But don’t forget, there is one game bigger.

The Super Bowl for Democracy. We’re battling for it every day Trump pushes a cockamamie idea that shakes the foundation of our Democracy.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and commentator. Watch his micro-talk show “Emil Amok’s Takeout/What Does an Asian American Think?” on www.YouTube.com/emilamok1 Or join him on http://www.patreon.com/emilamok

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Tina Thompson: Champion, Legend, and Pioneer of Women’s Basketball

Known for her signature red lipstick, Thompson displayed confidence and style on the court, becoming an icon both for her gameplay and her individuality. Her ability to score from anywhere on the floor, combined with her defensive prowess, made her one of the league’s most formidable players.

Published

4 months ago

January 5, 2025

Oakland Post

Tina Thompson at 2013 WNBA All-Star game at Mohegan Sun. 27 July 2013. Photo: Danny Karwaski/Wikimedia Commons.

By Tamara Shiloh

The establishment of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1996 was a turning point for women’s sports, creating a professional platform for female basketball players to showcase their skills at the highest level. Among the trailblazers who helped launch the league, Tina Thompson stands out as the first African American woman drafted into the WNBA.

Tina Thompson was born on February 10, 1975, in Los Angeles, California. Raised in a basketball-loving household, she quickly developed a passion for the game. Thompson improved her skills on the playgrounds of South Central Los Angeles, often playing against boys, which toughened her game and fueled her competitive edge.

She attended the University of Southern California (USC), where she became a standout player for the Trojans. Known for her versatility, scoring ability, and relentless work ethic, she earned All-Pac-10 honors multiple times and cemented her reputation as one of the top collegiate players in the nation.

When the WNBA held its first-ever draft on April 28, 1997, Tina Thompson made history as the league’s first African American player to be drafted. Selected as the first overall pick by the Houston Comets, she joined a team that would go on to dominate the early years of the WNBA.

Tina’s selection was a historic moment, symbolizing the league’s commitment to showcasing diverse talent. As a Black woman in a pioneering role, Thompson carried the hopes of aspiring African American female athletes who dreamed of playing professional basketball.

Tina wasted no time making an impact in the WNBA. As a key member of the Houston Comets alongside legends Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes, she helped lead the team to an unprecedented four consecutive championships from 1997 to 2000. The Comets’ dynasty became the gold standard for excellence in the league’s early years.

Over a career spanning 17 seasons, Tina established herself as one of the WNBA’s all-time greats. She retired as the league’s leading scorer, a record she held until it was broken by Diana Taurasi. She was a nine-time WNBA All-Star and was named to multiple All-WNBA teams, cementing her status as one of the sport’s legends.

In 2018, Thompson’s contributions to basketball were recognized with her induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The honor underscored her influence not just as a player, but as a trailblazer for African American women in sports.

After retiring from professional basketball, she transitioned into coaching, using her experience and knowledge to mentor young athletes. She has served as a head coach at the collegiate level, inspiring the next generation of players to pursue excellence both on and off the court.

As a role model and advocate, Thompson has consistently emphasized the importance of education, empowerment, and self-belief. Her story resonates with countless young women who see in her the embodiment of perseverance and success.

Tina Thompson is presently in her third season as an assistant coach at the University of Texas at Austin.