Once I start on something, I get obsessed about the ending.

Though Craig Finn may have been talking about binging prestige television, the line repeatedly comes to mind when thinking about this Iowa women's basketball run.

We know this incarnation will conclude:

- In the Sweet 16
- In the Elite 8
- In the Final Four (!)
- In the Natty
- On the podium

Five total outcomes, and we want to see it closer to the bottom than the top. And why the hell not? With 1-seed Stanford gone, 2-seed Iowa is the highest seed left in a regional that includes 5-seed Louisville, 6-seed Colorado, and 8-seed Ole Miss. Also absent? 3-seed Duke. It's a battle of stars aligning vs. best laid plans.

And it's been fun, hasn't it?

Bloodied but unbowed:

And cashing in:

And as we juggle these emotional highs and lows, the South Carolina cloud remains. Even if Iowa rolls in these next two games, they will more-than-likely have the defending national champions waiting for them in the Final Four. The same defending national champions who have gone 34-0 since. You scan through their schedule trying to find something to hold onto. UConn only lost by four... they've been pushed to OT twice...

But after that? Not a lot. Maybe this all will matter, maybe it will not. But that's a talk for next week. If it ends, when it ends, I want it to be perfect. No cold shooting, go down swinging, defeated, as they say in East Lansing, with dignity. I'm the type to think about what my haircut will look like in the casket.

For now? The end of morbid thoughts. Iowa has an attainable, not-at-all guaranteed Final Four berth to play for this weekend. If there isn't a third, so be it -- but I do not yet believe it's time.

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second person to eat the purple berries has significantly better chance of survival.”

(9) Auburn 83, (8) Iowa 75:

/nods

Three straight losses to end the season. Not sure if that's more improbable or me reminding you the last win was the 22-point victory on the road vs. Indiana. Significantly better times.

As the dust settles, I find myself wishing there were more enjoyable moments with Kris Murray. He truly ascended as a junior, and you really can't ask for more, and it's doubly unfair to compare him to Luka Garza or his brother, so maybe the answer is we've just been spoiled. But I always found myself wanting more with him out there. More career highs, more playmaking, more touches in crunch time. As he presumably departs for the NBA, I wish him nothing but the best while simultaneously feeling a little hollow about his very interesting three years on campus.

We reeled him back in before... we can do it again!

Don't think I realized how much Frank Ocean channels this in "Sierra Leone."

After a nice little win in the opening round of the NIT, Michigan went on the road to play Vanderbilt in the second round. They generally controlled the entire game and were up by 8 with just over a minute left. Then, uh...

A collapse like that only makes the stats that much more fun:

Sometimes, it's like the coin only has one side.

A forever team, no matter what.

Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Find him on Twitter @bobbystompy, Instagram @bobbystompy, or email at bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com.