March Madness 2022: Sports psychologist reveals why fans get behind the underdog

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Each year the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament features an underdog team that upsets a powerhouse school and gains national attention.

Loyola Chicago has been one of those underdog schools in recent years. College basketball fans have gotten behind the Ramblers and Sister Jean during their runs in the tournament. The Ramblers made the Final Four in 2018 as a No. 11 seed and a regional semifinal last season as a No. 8 seed.

College basketball fans tend to get behind lower seeds like these.

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Loyola players pose with the championship trophy after winning the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference between the Loyola Chicago Ramblers and the Drake Bulldogs March 6, 2022, at Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Mo. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Dr. Chelsi Day, a licensed sport psychologist at Ohio State University, explained to Fox News Digital why college basketball fans root for the underdog.

"There’s a couple things. The underdogs feel more like they could be us. I think that there's this certain way that we relate to the folks who made it there but maybe aren’t coming in with as much … glory and recognition from the year," Day said. 

"And I think that on a deep level, it shows that even the little guys can win sometimes," the psychologist said. "Sometimes those No. 13 seeds are still powerhouse schools that have a long history of being successful in basketball. But it's something about they're in this position. We're going to see them rise to the challenge and do things that no one's expecting them to do, which is kind of what we all often want in life. We wanna show