Dirhams. Generally pronounced DEER-ems. That’s what we spend over here in the United Arab Emirates. It’s the currency.

Dh100 (shorthand for 100 dirhams) is equal to $27.20.

The contribution to enter the Abu Dhabi Ballers III NCAA Tournament competition was … Dh50. Or about $13.60.

And did it keep me from rooting for Northern Iowa against Kansas last night?

Heck no.

Could be about me, and my assumption I will never win a tournament pool — because I never have before. So that Dh50 … already gone, inside my head.

Had I been all about my investment, I would have been pulling for the top-ranked Jayhawks to rally and defeat those nonentities from Northern Iowa. (Cedar Falls, to be exact. Sure. We’ve all been there.)

But I found myself, while watching the end of the game on a CBS feed that espn.com was showing … pulling for Northern Iowa from the second I started getting the game, with about three minutes left.

I love that sort of upset. Love it. Little team from nowhere (think Gonzaga 15 years ago) comes in unafraid, cohesive and well-schooled … highly ranked team shows up fat-headed and feeling entitled … and the little guys don’t just scare them, don’t just stay close but win the whole game. Some guy named Ali drains a no-no-no-YES! three-pointer in the final 30 seconds. Love it.

But, of course, there goes the team I picked in the NCAA competition to Win the Whole Thing. Kansas, that is. Of course, of the 18 people in our pool, 14 picked Kansas to win it all, so maybe I have a shot, still — if Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan State and Somebody Else don’t win, instead.

A game just as fun, almost was St. Mary’s defeating a No. 2 seed, Villanova. Very similar plot line. Random team from lesser conference just outplays famous basketball school from high-powered conference. And what, five Australian guys on St. Mary’s? How much fun must they be?

And who would have thought, six months ago, that the state of California would put one team in the final 16 … and it would be St Mary’s of Moraga?

And an Ivy League school in the Sweet Sixteen, too? Let’s hear it for Cornell and the backdoor play!

So, yes, even over here on the other side of the world, some of these upsets are more than a little fun.

Take that Kansas! Those were the Panthers who sent you home. And I was happy to pay Dh50 for the privilege of seeing it.