The races are still a few days away, but the Little 500 concert line-up, featuring primarily electronic dance musicians, kicks off tonight with Robbie Rivera at the Bluebird Nightclub.

The weather forecast for Saturday predicts rain, which would create adverse conditions for the riders. Junior Tyler Dennis of the Black Key Bulls, another top team that placed third in Qualifications, isn’t worried about the rain.

“It rains on everybody,” he said. “I don’t think it will affect (the race) at all. I think the top teams will stay the top teams, and everybody else will fall in line. Maybe mental toughness will be more of a factor.”

If the Cutters do, indeed, extend their record to six in a row, they will have to overcome more than just the weather. This year, the team is without Eric Young, who landed the best ITT time from 2009-11 and won the USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championship just four months after his final Little 500 appearance.

As fun as it is to root for the underdog in sports, there wouldn’t be any if it wasn’t for the top dogs who set the bar high. Here’s a look at some of the men and women favorites to win this year’s Little 500 races.

The Cutters are the prime players of the top dogs. Although they’ve only been in existence since 1984, they have won a record 12 races. The next closest is eight by Delta Chi, the fraternity from which the Cutters originated. They have also won five consecutive Little 500 races dating back to 2007, another unprecedented mark. In 28 total races, the Cutters have placed in the top ten 26 times, with their worst performance resulting in a 12th-place finish. Their average placement per year is 3.54, a best among all current teams.

Qualifications

After Beta Theta Pi rode its men’s qualification lap in 2:21.05 — almost five seconds faster than the best 2011 qual time — at 8:50 a.m., 37 teams tried to go faster. They failed.

The start to the 62nd Little 500 week is officially underway.

On Saturday afternoon, 47 teams took to the track at the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex to participate in the 10th annual Little 50.

Despite a two-hour rain delay that caused a total of 27 teams to not show up Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium, the 2012 Team Pursuit results are in the books.

Along a wall, there are framed photos of Fiji brothers holding up the Borg-Warner Trophy after winning the race in 1956, 1965, 1967, 1975, 1987 and 1995. There’s one empty frame on the wall with a piece of paper taped up that reads, “RESERVED FOR 2012.”

From the time she saw her first Little 500 race, senior Brittany Strumbel dreamt of one day taking the track at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

You can guarantee junior Erin Gallo will have on her pair of black biking socks this Friday night.

The Little 500 is an intramural sport.

OK, now that I’ve stated that fact, I’m going to tell you all the reasons why, for the athletes competing in the race itself, it is far from an intramural sport.

29. Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Qualifying time: 02:32.12
Time ahead of 34th place: 1.3 seconds
Stat of note: This is SAE’s second Little 500 since 2001, when it finished 20th.

Unlike the Cutters, Wing It Cycling is taking a completely different approach in the final week compared to its normal training. Team member Abigail Legg said the riders of Wing It have been building their endurance all year through road rides and track workouts, sometimes spending up to five hours on the bike in a day.

Turn three in the Little 500 race is the most dangerous, according to some riders.

Cutters Coach Jim Kirkham has somewhat of a plan for his riders in the final week before race day, but he doesn’t encourage them to deviate too much from their normal schedule. Here are a few tips for riders’ training in the final days and a breakdown of the Cutters’ last week of riding.

Exchanges are what can make or break a Little 500 for any team. If successful, exchanges can keep a team in the race and potentially allow it to vie for the win.

It’s easy to tell a serious cyclist from a casual one. Someone riding for leisure or a little exercise is drenched in sweat and trying in vain to ride smoothly as the wind catches his or her T-shirt.

It’s 8 p.m. March 26, in a crowded Ballantine Hall classroom, and Laura Bliss and her RideOn teammates are ready to choose their race-day jerseys — their identity — for the Little 500.

There are other high-profile cycling races in the world. There are other big party weeks and weekends at colleges across the country. There are other big draws for major musical acts.