NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament upsets since 2000
By Joey Loose
10. #9 Northern Iowa 69, #1 Kansas 67 (2010 Round of 32)
Nearly a decade after this monumental game, Ali Farokhmanesh is serving as an assistant coach with the Colorado State Rams. After graduating from Northern Iowa, he played professional ball overseas and has spent a few years as a college assistant. There’s no telling where his coaching career will proceed, but it’ll be hard for him ever to top this game against the Kansas Jayhawks, nor his shining moment near the very end.
These Jayhawks were the very best team in the nation in 2010. They spent nearly the entire season ranked No. 1 and lost just two games en route to another Big 12 championship. The roster was littered with talent, some of which was around for its national title back in 2008.
The Jayhawks made easy work of the 16-seed Lehigh Mountain Hawks in the first round. A date with the Northern Iowa Panthers. was just the next tally on their checklist to another title.
The Panthers were a 9-seed, but they certainly didn’t play like it. They controlled the game throughout; hit their shots, and held an eight-point halftime lead. The Jayhawks began the game on a Cole Aldrich jumper, but that was their only lead.
Northern Iowa shocked them, building its lead in the second half up to 11 before Kansas came firing back into the game. They drew all the way back to within one point with less than a minute left; all the momentum was on their side.
It was at this point that Farokhmanesh had his shining moment hitting a 3-pointer that helped secure the Northern Iowa win. His 16 points led the Panthers and they needed each one of them to get their 30th win of the season. Aldrich had 13 points, 10 rebounds and Marcus Morris had 16 points, but this mighty Jayhawks squad couldn’t even make it past the first weekend.
The Panthers didn’t prevail in their next game, a loss to the Michigan State Spartans, but they made a statement that won’t soon be forgotten. These Jayhawks were the odds-on favorites to win the entire tournament, but fell before their run really got started. Farokhmanesh’s shot wasn’t a game-winner nor a buzzer beater, but its importance cannot be understated and it will never be forgotten.