Chris McNaughton hits the shot heard 'round the world but wasn't seen by at least one fan who picked his Bison to win. AP

INDIANAPOLIS -- It is Friday night of the first weekend of the Tournament, and I am sitting, literally, in the epicenter of NCAA basketball. Five blocks to the west is the NCAA's headquarters and Hall of Champions. Two blocks to the south is the dome that hosts Final Fours seemingly every other year and is a site for first and second-round games this weekend.

I can't think of a more appropriate setting for my most gratifying night in 20 years of Tourney watching.

Six feet in front of me is a wall of nine TV screens at Champps Restaurant and Bar, each one showing a different NCAA tournament game. And two feet behind me at the next table is Kentucky fan Judy Willoughby of Ashland City, Tenn., who, I've just learned, may be the greatest upset prognosticator in tourney history, having filled out brackets in the past that included Boston College's second-round upset of top seed North Carolina in 1994, College of Charleston's '97 win over Maryland, and the first two victories of Gonzaga's breakthrough Elite Eight run in '99.

All this despite the fact that, according to jealous husband Doug, she "doesn't know sh-- from apple butter about basketball."

He says this just as we are watching the early stages of her latest potential masterpiece: Bucknell over Kansas. With the Bison holding a 28-21 first-half lead, Judy explains the logic behind the seemingly outrageous pick to her annually dumfounded husband. "I saw they beat Pitt, and I figured, well, Pitt's pretty good, and Kansas is kind of shaky without Roy Williams," said Judy.

That's no apple butter, people. In fact, it happens to be almost the exact same logic this here college basketball writer employed in picking the same seemingly ridiculous upset. At least it seemed ridiculous at the time -- until I met Judy.

The Willoughbys, part of a large contingent of blue-clad faithful in the restaurant (they're team faces Cincinnati on Saturday in the RCA Dome), have followed their beloved Wildcats to 14 straight SEC tournaments and four Final Fours. In addition to her prognostication abilities, I learn Judy has an amazing ability to will her team to victory -- by not watching. When the 'Cats were trailing Syracuse during the 1996 national title game, her friends locked her out on the front porch until Big Blue prevailed. When they fell behind Duke by 17 during the '98 regional final, Judy went to the restroom and, upon learning the Wildcats had suddenly hit three 3-pointers to get back in the game, stayed in the Tropicana Field concourse until was over, getting updates from the ushers.

A Tennessee Titans diehard as well, Judy even missed the team's famous Music City Miracle kickoff return -- despite being in the her seat at the stadium. She had buried her head in her hands in defeat and, upon hearing the commotion, looked up in bewilderment to see people hugging.

Earlier in the evening, before Judy and I became acquainted, I had shared in the thrill of watching another one of my upset picks, Vermont over Syracuse, come to fruition alongside another pair of Kentucky fans, Audrey Young and Brad Miles. They hadn't been paying much attention to the game, more concerned with rooting against Louisville in their near-defeat to Louisiana-Lafayette, but even they, along with the rest of the Champps crowd, couldn't help but become enraptured watching retiring Catamounts coach Tom Brennan jumping up and down as his team held off the Orange. I, too, rejoiced, at being made to look smart for once after years of having my annual bracket woes exposed to a national audience.