Could Northern Iowa...

"Northern Iowa can win the NCAA tournament." - Me.

I said it right after they beat Kansas. Yes, after they beat them. No, I did not predict that #9. Northern Iowa would knock off Kansas, the #1 seed of #1 seeds. I did not pick it in my bracket. I did not bid on Northern Iowa in any of my six auction drafts. You want to know why I didn't? Not because I didn't think Northern Iowa was good, Tom Izzo as my witness I did, I thought they were real good, good enough to win more than a few games...but Northern Iowa drew the seed of death. That's right. The #8 or #9 seed in the region with the prohibitive favorite -- The seed of death. It's bad enough to get an #8 or #9 in a different region (I would much rather be a 7, 10, 11, 12 or even 13), playing a #1 in the second round is a great way to not do anything special in the tournament. It's a great way to not be remembered.

So if you picked Northern Iowa to knock off Kansas in the second round, congratulations, you made a HORRIBLE PICK! Sometimes the worse team wins, that doesn't mean it was the right pick. Northern Iowa might have been the 7th best team in the NCAA tournament this year -- behind Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse (pre injury), Duke, WVU, Kansas St. and Baylor (not in this order)-- but they played Kansas in the second round and although it may have appeared that they were the better team, they would lose that game 8 out of 10 times. That said...

"Northern Iowa can win the NCAA tournament." - Me. I just said it again.

Hindsight is 20-20, but if Northern Iowa had been the right #10 seed, I would have put them in the elite eight. I would have had them beating any #7, either #2. Villanova or #2 Ohio St. (the games would not have been close) and #3 Georgetown, #3 New Mexico or #3 Pitt, then I would have had them losing to any of the #1 seeds because even if it doesn't happen, it was the right pick. You probably hate me by now, but... BUT... In the NCAA tournament, shit happens, it always has and it always will. That is what makes it so great. But upsets rarely help the team who actually makes the upset. In English, teams who pull great upsets usually get knocked off in the next round. Who do upsets help then? Besides Michigan St. every @#$^%&* year, upsets help the next two or three best teams in each region. Do to match ups they probably couldn't have pulled the same upset the lesser team did, but now the bracket has opened up, now they can make a run.

What are you yelling about, Tom? You're the luckiest man on the planet!

This in a sense is what has happen for Ohio St., Tennessee, and naturally Michigan State. They now have a chance to get further than they should and you can see it in their eyes. What is rare about this case is that the team that pulled off the improbable upset, Northern Iowa, is the best team left in the bracket. Miss-seeded, Northern Iowa should win this region. THEY SHOULD WIN IT! Then what? They would play Butler or Kansas St. in the Final Four. If it happens to be Butler, not taking anything away from a very game Bulter team, Northern Iowa should win and thus should make it to the finals. If it's Kansas St... I wouldn't pick Northern Iowa, but as we know, anything can happen.

Could Northern Iowa knock off Kansas and Kentucky in the same tournament?

What would it look like in the finals? Kentucky, WVU, Duke/Purdue or Baylor. Again, I wouldn't pick them, but who knows. Will they win it all? Probably not. Almost certainly not. THEY ARE DOWN 42-43 to Michigan State late in the second half as I write this. But based on skill, team work, heart and the sheer weight of Ali Farokhmanesh’s balls... they should get to the Final Four, and after that... Who knows?