Clemson Tigers take first place as second seeds
One of the most exciting things about sport is that literally anything can happen, and it often does. It’s great when the team you support dominates a sport, sweeping all before them; but for the neutrals, there is nothing better than rooting for the little guys—the unfancied sides that might just pull off a miracle. Underdogs triumphing against the odds is the basis for so many great movies and is the stuff of legend for their faithful (and often long-suffering) fans.
College underdogs win through
College sports are great places to find underdogs, because the can often offer a much more level playing field. Most college players have yet to reach their full potential, and they don’t have the experience or game time of their pro counterparts. You only have to look at the College Football Playoffs National Championships winners, where the top seed has not won once since its inauguration in 2014.
This year the number-two seeds, the Clemson Tigers, thrashed the favourites, the Alabama Crimson, 44-16. Last year the top two seeds didn’t even make the final, with the fourth seed beating the third in a tight 26-23 encounter. The second seeds beat favourites in 2017 (Clemson 35 – Alabama 31) and 2016 (Alabama 45 – Clemson 40), and in 2015 the fourth seed triumphed again, with Ohio State beating number-two seeds, Oregon, 42-20.
Eli manning threw the underdog Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLVI
Super Bowl favourites struggle
Underdog stories can be harder to find in the big leagues, where every move of every player is analysed in extreme detail. Yet unexpected results do happen, even in the biggest games. There is often little to choose from between Super Bowl sides, but still the underdogs have beaten the favourites seven times in the last eleven years. Few victories were more surprising than the 2007 victory by the New York Giants, who were given a full 12-point handicap advantage by the experts. The Giants had had a largely unremarkable 12-4 regular season, while the Patriots were having the season of their lives and were on course to be the first undefeated team since the ’72 Dolphins. However, the much-anticipated battle of Brady vs Eli Manning ended up going against the odds, with the Giants beating the Patriots 17-14.
Cavalier attitude
Sometimes you can have a superstar in your ranks and still be the underdogs, as the Cleveland Cavaliers found in the 2016 season. Despite the presence of legend, LeBron James, they only managed a 57-25 season—not a patch on their opponents’ 73-9. When they fell behind 3-1 to the Golden State Warriors after the first four games of the NBA finals, everyone thought the Cavalier charge was well and truly over. However, in one of the most famous comebacks in basketball, they produced three straight wins to take their first-ever NBA title 4-3.
Underdogs around the world
America may be the land of dreams, but underdog stories happen all around the world. In the UK’s biggest steeplechase, The Grand National, the favourite has only won six times in thirty years; however, this year’s winner was the rare exception, romping home at 4-1 fav. In 2013, Auroras Encore came in at 66-1, while in 2009, Mon Mome rewarded the ‘pin-stickers’ by crossing the line first at a huge 100-1.
Britain also saw the ultimate underdog story in the soccer Premier League. In a competition normally dominated by the ‘big six’ clubs—who have taken the title 25 out of 27 times since it began in '92/'93—minnows, Leicester City, came from nowhere to snatch it from under their noses. A massive 500-1 outsiders at the start of the season, they not only took the title, but also gave many of their faithful fans a very pleasant pay-out.
Let’s face it, without the occasional underdog victory, sport would be pretty dull. But we don’t just cheer them on because it makes things more interesting. We love the underdogs because they show us that anyone can succeed if they truly believe and try their very best; this inspires us to try that little bit harder ourselves, whatever the odds against us, with the belief that we, too, can achieve.
