Day 15 of March: You Can't Be Serious

Hopefully everyone is pumped on Selection Sunday Eve as we begin to wrap up with my two favorite March Madness moments. Today we look at one of the greatest collection of characters in the history of sports with the Northern Iowa Panthers. Going against top overall seed Kansas, nobody really gave Northern Iowa much of a shot, and figured they'd get rolled over the way 9 seeds are supposed to in the second round. However, Ali Farokhmanesh, Jordan Eglseder, Lucas O'Rear, and Lucas O'Rear's sideburns had other plans. The Panthers controlled most of the game before withstanding a late Jayhawks run in the final two minutes. The defining moment came with around 40 seconds left with the Panthers up one. The typical approach would be to hold the ball as long as possible, run out some clock, and try to escape with the win. Farokhmanesh had a better idea, though, as he let a deep three fly and buried it, extending the lead to four. After a charge on Tyrel Reed on the ensuing possession, Ali hit two free throws to ice the game and send the Panthers to their first ever Sweet Sixteen. One of my biggest beliefs is that a team gunning for an upset this big has to land the knockout punch when they get the opportunity, and that's exactly what Northern Iowa did. The worst thing a team can do is try to coast with a small lead, and start playing conservatively. You have to go for jugular if you want to take out one of the big dogs. With that said, enjoy the awesome slate of games today, and come back tomorrow to see my all time favorite NCAA Tournament memory (which also doubles as my favorite Gus Johnson memory), it's gonna be awesome.