UNI 69 – KU 67.
Eric Prisbell of the Washington Post, writes, “Northern Iowa’s win over Kansas goes down as one of the biggest upsets in recent NCAA tournament history, for sure.” Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports thinks it is the greatest upset ever in the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament.
Upset (noun) – 1. a sporting victory so unexpected that, prior to the game, it was considered unthinkable.
Hey, guys, I think you could benefit from an accounting perspective on this. Here’s why.
Under U.S. GAAP, three terms are used to describe contingencies: probable, reasonably possible, and remote. Although the terms are not defined in the accounting standards, a consensus has emered as to their meanings. As used in practice, probable means very, very likely and remote means extremely and unthinkably unlikely. Reasonably possible is anything in between (of course those crazy Europeans have a different contingency rule, but then they don’t field teams in the NCAA).
Prior to game time on Saturday, KU (University of Kansas) was favored over UNI (University of Northern Iowa). However, the chance of any one outcome was far from a sure thing:
- The UNI team traveled hundreds of miles to play the game, refusing to concede the outcome before the game was played. The coach and players stated their intentions to contest the outcome of the game.
- KU had won about 90% of its games so far this season, so had UNI.
- KU had shown itself to be beatable, with two losses on the season. UNI had four.
- UNI had both the tallest player (an advantage in basketball) and the best shooter (another advantage). KU possessed some different relative advantages.
It is most accurate to say that prior to the game, most people thought that KU would win the game. Many, though, thought but UNI’s chance of winning was at least reasonably possible. If KU supporters didn’t think enough of UNI to give acknowledge its chance, it just shows they weren’t thinking.
So, they played the game, and UNI played well enough to show it belonged on the same court (not really a surprise). In fact, they played well enough to win, which they did. Until KU players and fans had to come to grips with the reality of defeat, a good time was had by all.
Do UNI players and fans have good reason to be feel happy this evening? Certainly. Did they receive an upset victory? Hardly.
Debit and credit – – David Albrecht
Of course UNI has another hidden advantage — a great accounting program and CPA exam pass rate. Poor Jayhawks never had a chance.