Day 3 Review

Before tipoff, the most any knowledgable sports fan would have know of Northern Iowa is that it is Kurt Warner's alma mater. When the clock hit double zero Saturday, Northern Iowa will now forever be linked to the historic upset that took place in Oklahoma City.

The Kansas Jayhawks were the number 1 team in the nation for the majority of the year and a concensus #1 overall seed. Northern Iowa were the winners of the Missouri Valley Conference who had never made it to a Sweet 16. Make no mistake about it, even though Northern Iowa was a #9 seed their victory over Kansas is one of the greatest of all time. The school has never had an alum play in an NBA game while Kansas has at least 3 future NBAers currently on the squad. Kansas is able to acquire the top high school talent in the country while 95% of the students at Northern Iowa are from in-state so the recruiting isn't exactly nationwide.

The game was close throughout and in its final moments it appeared that Northern Iowa would crumble under the pressure. Up 7, the Panthers commited 3 straight turnovers to allow Kansas to close the gap to 1. The country watched in horror as David began to appeared overmatched in the pressure situation against Goliath. However, senior guard Ali Farokhmanesh broke lose down the right side of the court and delivered a blow that even Sherron Collins and his fellow Jayhawks could not overcome. Farokhmanesh was all alone and still with over 30 seconds on the shot clock, he put up a 3 pointer that sealed the deal. That shot will forver be linked to the all time great NCAA tournament moments. Even with all the upsets that have taken place, Northern Iowa reminded the country why the tournament is still referred to as "March Madness."

On a day when the number 1 team in the nation lost, the Villanova Wildcats stunning loss to St. Marys has taken the back seat. Villanova barely squeaked by Robert Morris in the first round but the general belief was that the game would be somewhat of a wake up call. That wake up call must have never happened because the Wildcats looked just as bad against an inferior St. Marys team. Out of the 7 Big East teams that made the tournament only 3 remain. Only Lousiville had a ranking lower then 6 so these have been highly regarded Big East teams that have been losing these early round games.

Bracket Update

• Finished with the bracket. Had Kansas winning not only their region, but the championship game as well. According to ESPN, 42% of the nation had Kansas winning the whole thing as well. Good job Northern Iowa, you've reuined almost half the country's bracket.