The NCAA Tournament is always a fun time of the year.

Filling out a bracket and then watching the games with anxiety in hopes that your pick makes it to the next round. I got through the first round in pretty good shape. For some reason, this was the year for the underdogs and I picked a lot of them.

Except St. Peter’s.

Who picked them?

Even more - who has even heard of them?

I know I was pretty surprised when they took down Kentucky - and then I Googled the school to find out where it was. The New Jersey team came to play.

They surged into the second round, won again and Cinderella is dancing.

It’s interesting the way that each year, there’s always a team that squeaks under most everyone’s radar and plays deep into the tournament.

It’s like they come in with a chip on their shoulder and are mad they don’t get the same attention that other schools do because they’re the team everyone has to Google.

They were No. 15 coming into the tournament and have taken out No. 2 and No. 7 and No. 3. They are the first 15-seed that has advanced to the Elite Eight in NCAA History.

You know, it’s easy to overlook a team you’ve never heard of but then root for them when they take out a big club. It’s so backwards to me.

But the St. Peter’s bandwagon is filling up with more and more fans with each passing round.

A cousin I saw this past weekend posed a question to me: are we that fickle of a society, or are we just that fickle when it comes to sports?

His argument was that we take the opportunity to jump the wagon when a team surpasses expectations because it’s easy to root for the winner.

The Cincinnati Bengals are a prime example. How many people are now Bengals fans because of their unlikely appearance in the Super Bowl? And are they REALLY fans or did they jump the bandwagon for that game?

In short, I don’t think either of those things are accurate for the majority of sports fans. They are neither fickle or bandwagon riders. But they do know a great performance and appreciate the athleticism and talent it takes to make it to the apex of any major sporting event..

Sports is an interesting beast in that it brings people together from all walks of life and all backgrounds under one common denominator.

I think I’ve noted it before - when people walk into a stadium and they’re wearing the same shirts and pulling for the same team, political affiliations and stigma falls away.

It’s a peaceful place to be in the midst of a sometimes chaotic scene.

It’s exhilarating and fun and makes us forget about the things in life that cause stress.

That’s the beauty of all of this.

The Super Bowl, the NCAA Tournament, State Basketball.

Your team doesn’t need to be there, but you can support the cause.

So in the matter of St. Peters’ vs the NCAA Tournament field, I’m on board with the Peacocks. They’ve put on a show and it’s been fun to watch them put themselves on the map.