MTV's Musical March Madness tournament tips off on March 18, with 64 bands battling it out to end [article id="1682440"]Tokio Hotel's reign as champions[/article]. And based on their tremendous pre-tourney run -- a [article id="1679545"]platinum-selling album[/article], a

But despite all their successes, Fun. know that there truly are no sure things in the MMM tournament; after all, they entered last year's field of 64 as a [article id="1680595"]highly-touted #6 seed ... and promptly lost to Semi Precious Weapons[/article] in the first round. So with the sting of that defeat still fresh in their memories, they're heading into MMM 2013 focused on the fundamentals, and ready to make a deep run.

"It's gonna take a team effort; it's gonna take listening to the coach -- whomever the coach may be -- it's gonna take our shots to fall and for us to trust in each other," floor general Nate Ruess said. "It's gonna take a good defensive scheme, it's gonna take guts and glory. Who are we going up against, anyway?"

Good question. We already know [article id="1703338"]Fall Out Boy are in this year's tournament,[/article] and though the full field of 64 bands won't be revealed until Monday, March 18, Fun. have already set their sights on toppling heavyweights like [article id="1680488"]the Black Keys[/article], former MMM champions [article id="1661353"]Green Day[/article] and perennial powerhouses [article id="1661092"]Paramore.[/article]

Ultimately, Fun.'s fate will be decided by you -- fans vote for the winners in all Musical March Madness matchups -- but after last year's dose of humility, Ruess and the boys are letting that championship swagger show just a tad. Take, for example, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost's reaction to the other bands in the MMM field, which involved him grabbing a garbage can (props are always a sign of confidence), channeling his inner Hulkster, and serving notice that this is Fun.'s year to dominate.

"Metaphorically speaking," he shouted, "those bands are nothing but garbage, brother!"

Have Fun. earned the right to be cocky, or will MMM 2013 see another early exit? We'll just have to wait and see ...

MTV's Musical March Madness Tournament begins Monday, March 18, when we'll unveil the full field of 64 bands that will battle for this year's championship. Winners are determined by fan votes, so if your favorite act made the cut, it'll be up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM -- but get ready, it's gonna be a war!