It was late. And it was cold.

But it wasn't enough to keep 50 screaming Northern Iowa fans from greeting the Panthers at Waterloo airport early Sunday morning as they arrived home from Oklahoma City, the site of their stunning upset of No. 1 Kansas.

"I went to UNI 30-something years ago, and I was a cheerleader. And I've never stopped being a cheerleader," said Pat Blank, who lives in Shell Rock, according to the Des Moines Register. "Even at 1:30 in the morning, someone needs to be here to welcome them home."

The players ate it up. Several signed autographs. Others chatted with fans and joined in the "UNI, UNI" chants that rang throughout.

"This is awesome," Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said. "It's been a thrill."

The Register reported that fans -- including one baby in a stroller -- started gathering at the airport around midnight.

"This is awesome," Ali Farokhmanesh, who hit the game-clinching three-pointer in the final minute vs. Kansas, said. "We talked on the plane that there might be a few people here, but we thought it might be a little too late and a little too cold."

"They shocked the world," said 12-year-old Jack McDonough, a sixth grader at Sacred Heart school in Oelwein, Iowa. "It was unbelievable."

-- Tim Gardner