Let's hear it for underdogs!

Have you ever been the underdog -- the one not expected to make it or to achieve? If so, hold your head up high and do what you know you can do. You can be a champion. You can overcome the odds, even if those odds are stacked so high that you begin to wonder if you should even try.

As the season leading to the NCAA March Madness tournament begins, here's a look at what happens when an underdog takes to the court and outperforms in a miraculous way.

The situation: It's 2001. Hampton University (my alma mater!) is the 15th seed in the NCAA tournament. The team travels to Iowa to take on No. 2 seed, Iowa State. Iowa State was expected to walk away with the game and move forward in the tournament. That's not quite how the story unfolded.