15 biggest NCAA Tournament upsets of all time

12. No. 9 Northern Iowa over No. 1 Kansas, 69-67, (2010, second round)

Perhaps one of the most stunning moments in NCAA Tournament history came as the Northern Iowa Panthers knocked off the top-overall seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, the Kansas Jayhawks, in the Second Round. No, it wasn’t a last-second buzzer-beater that earned that moment, but rather one of the most ill-advised and gutsiest shots that you’ll ever see in college basketball that just so happened to work out.

With 42 seconds left in the game, the No. 9 seed Panthers were ahead by one point and had the ball following a Sherron Collins lay-up to cut the lead down. Traditional thought would dictate that Northern Iowa would want to hold the ball and try to milk as much clock as possible before getting a good shot to try and take a game-winner out of the question. Ali Farokhmanesh, however, had other plans.

As Kansas turned on a tight full-court press defense, Farokhmanesh leaked down the right side of the floor behind the press. With the pressure turning up in the backcourt, the ball found the Northern Iowa guard on the right wing beyond the arc. With a defender on him, Farokhmanesh made a little jab step to create some room, which sent the defender flying. And rather than hold on to the ball and run time off, he let a 3-pointer fly — splash.

That shot ultimately sealed the victory for the Panthers as Kansas couldn’t surmount the four-point lead after. Northern Iowa no doubt played a great game, particularly defensively, to even be in that position, but this upset will always be remembered for that shot by Farokhmanesh.