The underdog role is nice as a fan, because it offers some solace in a loss, and a higher high when you win. If the team loses, you can shrug the shoulders and say “well, we were the underdog right?” And if they win it feels huge because the underdog just beat the favored team.
On the other side of things, if the team is favored to win and they don’t, it feels like a terrible loss, and if they win, it’s kind of like “well, we were supposed to win, right?”
Which is better, a mentality of expecting to win, or one of trying to prove you can win? Both approaches have pros and cons I think.