March Madness is the perfect explanation for what resulted after the first two rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

Davidson, Western Kentucky, Villanova and West Virginia each managed to shock the basketball world by reaching the Sweet 16 over the weekend, much to the surprise of tournament powerhouses Duke and Georgetown.

Underdogs sprout up each year in the tournament. Most notably, George Mason made a run all the way to the final four in 2006 despite being seeded 11th.

Many fans heard the name and thought George Mason was the name of a player or maybe a coach. But the Patriots quickly became a household name with upset victories over UConn, Michigan State, Wichita State and North Carolina before falling to eventual champion Florida.

The streak through the tournament has brought George Mason into all college basketball discussions.

Experts ponder which team will be the George Mason of this year's tournament, especially with the success of mid-major teams Davidson and Western Kentucky.

Cheering for the underdog is a time-honored tradition. Nearly the entire world, outside of New England, rallied to root against the Patriots in this year's Super Bowl, and the underdog Giants pulled of the momentous upset.

Madness may be the easiest way to describe the unbelievable triumphs over the weekend, but for the four tournament underdogs, their victories were just part of a plan for a National Championship.

Bill Hartlep can be reached at starsports@gatewaynewspapers.com [1]