NCAA Ouster Leaves KU Fans Speechless ... Except This One

By WHITNEY MATHEWS
Special To One Great Season

I take comfort in knowing all of your brackets are f**ked.

The inhabitants of my household -- dog included -- are all staring at the television, shaking their heads. Yeah. Northern Iowa just happened. (Though the dog is diabetic, so maybe it's just time for his insulin shot, because he is a dog and dogs don't understand basketball.)

I wish I could say I haven't felt like this before, but it brings me back to a certain St. Patrick's Day a few years back. The team was Bradley. Before that, Bucknell. Bill Self has coached Kansas to a title, but also three of the worst losses in program history (Northern Iowa included). I'm not releasing the hounds or anything, but I worry about his coaching abilities against mid-majors.

What kills me about this loss is that KU shot 6-of-22 from three-point range. Cole Aldrich tweaked his ankle and was out the majority of the second half, and when he was in, he was getting handled by that giant Jordan Eglseder. It took away one of KU's most powerful weapons and forced the ball to the perimeter -- not Bill Self's game plan, I'm sure. Also, Sherron Collins is selfish when he doesn't deliver. It's been a thorn in KU's side all along.

In the end, UNI found and exploited the Jayhawks' weak spots, and the Panthers deserve to advance. Kansas didn't play like a national champion -- or even a Sweet 16 team -- in either round.

Now the question is ... do Xavier Henry and Cole Aldrich declare early for the NBA draft? I say maybe not to Xavier. Cole should've gone last year, though his nice-guy attitude may have him reconsidering this time around. KU will activate redshirts Mario Little and Travis Releford. I think they'll be motivated after being stuck on the bench for Saturday's disaster.

And then there's this: http://twitpic.com/19vqyg.

Sad.

At this time I will conveniently leave the country for four days on business. I would say "well, at least we have baseball season to look forward to," but I live in Kansas City and we all know how well that's gone the last 20 years. At least the World Cup will kill some time and our MLS team could be a playoff squad.

So for now, I'll leave you with a mashup of failures from our most-hated rival -- Missouri -- because it makes me feel better to insult others.

See you in 2011.

Mathews is a KU grad and works for the Lawrence Journal-World. Visit her Web site, and then follow her on Twitter.