On Thursday afternoon, the Northwestern Wildcats will take on the take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. A proud alum, Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian has a bold prediction as to how far his college will go.

“All the way,” Siemian told DenverBroncos.com, “of course.”

It’s Northwestern’s first trip to the dance. In fact, they were the only team in a Power-Five conference to never have gone. Now, in unchartered waters, Siemian is hoping they will make a splash.

“I mean it’s just really cool,” he said. “Everybody back there in Evanston and at Northwestern, it’s something we’ve never experienced. So it’s all new to us. It’s just been a cool ride the whole way through watching these guys.”

Siemian is no stranger to doing something that is unprecedented. In 2016, he became the first NU quarterback to open the season as the starter since Otto Graham in 1955.

Tipoff between (8) Northwestern and (9) Vanderbilt is scheduled for 2:30p.m. MT.

“I’m enjoying it,” Siemian said. “Who knows? That’s the cool thing about March Madness. You see these teams make runs out of nowhere.

“Maybe that’s us this year.”