Purdue Nation Hoping This Is Finally THE Year
In a few short hours, Purdue will begin NCAA Tournament play and Boilermaker Nation’s anxiety level will sky rocket.
You can’t blame them. After all, over the years March Madness has been nothing but March Sadness.
It’s been 43 years since the Boilermakers last appeared in the Final Four.
Is this the year that drought comes to an end?
Purdue is a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1996.
It has its first National Player of the Year since 1994.
Boilermaker fans though don’t take anything for granted.
In ’88, there was the loss to Kansas State in the Pontiac Silverdome in the Sweet 16, a team Purdue had throttled earlier in the season.
In ’94, Glenn Robinson and the Boilermakers looked unstoppable until the Big Dog tweaked his back the night before the Duke game in the Elite Eight and dreams of the Final Four were dashed by Coach K, Grant Hill and Co.
In ’96, Purdue came within a made three-point shot by No. 16-seed Western Carolina to being the answer to a trivia question. Two days later Georgia ended the Boilermakers season.
And perhaps the postseason loss that is second to none came in 2019 when their beloved team led by Carsen Edwards came oh so close that coveted Final Four appearance … actually 0.1 seconds away from beating eventual national champion Virginia and advancing to the national semi-finals.
Last season there were high hopes, too.
Soon-to-be NBA lottery pick Jaden Ivey, talented big man Trevion Williams and a host of veterans were suppose to lead Purdue to the promise land. However, Cinderella St. Peter’s had other ideas in the Sweet 16.
Few probably realize the Boilermakers have advanced to four Sweet 16s in the past five NCAA Tournaments (the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID).
That same group probably has no clue that in its last 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, Purdue is a stellar 18-3 in first-round games. Since 1993, the Boilermakers have only been one-and-done in the opening round in 2015, 2016 and 2021.
All three of the aforementioned happen to be in Matt Painter’s tenure as Purdue’s head coach.
Painter, now in his 18th season guiding the Boilermakers, has led his alma mater to six Sweet 16 appearances and the one Elite Eight appearance in ’19.
Painter’s Boilermakers enter tonight’s game against No. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson (a 6:50 p.m. ET tip on TNT) with a 29-5 record.
It is the fourth time under Painter that Purdue has won at least 29 games. It won a school-record 30 in 2017-18.
Despite its sparkling record, there are a good number of pundits that aren’t sold on this Boilermaker team.
Yes, Purdue won the Big Ten regular-season championship by an eye-opening three games and followed that up by winning the Big Ten Tournament for the second time in school history, but critics point to the team’s youthful backcourt, its struggles shooting the basketball from the outside and how it can struggle against the press.
With 7-foot-4 junior Zach Edey, however, this may be the year Purdue finally breaks through.
Remember Lee Rose’s 1980 Final Four Boilermakers had 7-2 center Joe Barry Carroll in the middle. JBC was really good, but he’s no Edey.
The Toronto native has been amazing this season, averaging 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 1.5 assists, while shooting 60.6 percent from the floor.
Tonight, Edey will face a Fairleigh Dickinson team that doesn’t have a player over 6-6 in its regular rotation.
Edey is a great college player, but if Purdue is to make some noise in this year’s Big Dance, he must get some help from his friends.
When Purdue shoots fairly well, especially from the perimeter, it can beat anyone. Just ask West Virginia, Marquette, Gonzaga and Duke.
But when the Boilermaker shots aren’t falling, talented teams can beat them as IU did twice, once in convincing fashion in Mackey Arena.
Purdue won’t have any problems tonight with FDU. It’s a potential Sunday matchup, though, against ultra-talented Memphis that some believe could send the Boilermakers home.
No doubt the Tigers’ athleticism and length is cause for concern … that is if the Tigers get by first-round opponent Florida Atlantic, which doesn’t figure to be a cakewalk.
Helping Purdue’s cause this weekend will be the fact that it will be playing in front of a partisan Boilermaker crowd as thousands of Purdue fans are expected to fill Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Survive the second round and a date with the winner of Duke/Tennessee will be on tap in the Sweet 16 of the East Region, which will be played in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The Vols aren’t the same team they were earlier this season because star point guard Zakai Zeigler is out with a torn ACL.
Duke, who Purdue hammered by 19 points in late November in Oregon, isn’t the same team either. The Blue Devils are very young, but they’ve gotten better and better this season. They’ve won 10 games in a row and finished runner up to Miami and Virginia in the ACC.
There are a lot of people drinking the Duke Kool-Aid. They have Coach Jon Scheyer’s team not only advancing to the Final Four, but possibly winning the whole thing.
A Purdue-Duke showdown in the Sweet 16 in a pro-Duke MSG would be something to say the least.
In the bottom half of the bracket, No. 2-seed Marquette seems to be the popular pick to advance to the Elite Eight. Of course, Purdue knocked off Shaka Smart’s team early this season in Mackey, but needed a second-half rally to do so.
Don’t sleep on No. 3-seed Kansas State, possibly Kentucky or even Michigan State to get to NYC.
You can’t take anything for granted in the NCAA Tournament.
Every year there are shocking results like yesterday Princeton beating Arizona or Furman stunning Virginia.
Last year Purdue’s path was supposed to be cleared once Kentucky got bounced and then came St. Peter’s.
Since losing four of six in February, the Boilermakers seemed to have righted the ship.
They’ve won five in a row and are unbeaten this season on neutral courts (8-0).
No doubt Edey is going to need some help from his supporting cast if the Boilermakers want to make it past the first weekend and the second.
How players like Brandon Newman, Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, David Jenkins and Mason Gillis play will determine Purdue’s NCAA Tournament fate. Expect Caleb Furst, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Ethan Morton to have a say so, too.
Edey is the one given on this team. He is having a magical year, and given the fact that Purdue, a team that was picked to finish in the middle of the Big Ten race, won its league-leading 25th and 26th Big Ten titles, it, too, has had a magical year up until this point.
But that’s not enough.
You see the mindset seems to have changed in West Lafayette.
Sure, Big Ten championships are nice and something to get excited about, but the fan base craves more. They crave success in the NCAA Tournament, and a lot of it.
Who knows? Maybe, just maybe this is finally Purdue’s year. In a few short hours we will begin to find out and all of Boilermaker Nation will be collectively holding its breath for 40 minutes of every upcoming game.
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