Purdue coach Matt Painter, last year's AP player of the year Zach Edey, and the rest of the Boilermakers have had to carry the embarrassment of losing to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament throughout the season.
They can truly move past that loss to Fairleigh Dickinson when they play Montana State or Grambling State.
The Boilermakers once again earned a No. 1 seed on Sunday, one day after losing to Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, and will start their journey towards their first Final Four appearance since 1980 in nearby Indianapolis facing the winner of the First Four game between the Big Sky champions and the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
“We’re not really concerned about what happened last year,” said Braden Smith of the Boilermakers. “We’re focused on now. That’s in the past. They beat us that day, and they played better than us, and I don’t think it will happen again. We’re all super excited and ready for this upcoming week.”
If the Boilermakers get through their opening game, the path forward is filled with high-profile programs.
They could face fourth-seeded Kansas or No. 5 seed Gonzaga, two teams used to better seeds at this time of year, and a trip to the Final Four could involve defeating second-seeded Tennessee or No. 3 seed Creighton.
The Vols lost to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament and the Bluejays fell to Providence in the same round of the Big East tournament, and two teams that achieved much this season suddenly have a lot to prove.
“Understand that there’s no more fixing. It’s done,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “You got to get it done right now.”
Perhaps the biggest question mark involves the Jayhawks, who were the preseason No. 1 and got off to a tremendous start behind Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson. They struggled once conference play began, when Kevin McCullar Jr. started having knee trouble, and then lost their 7-foot centerpiece to a shoulder injury in a 30-point loss to Houston a week ago.
Bill Self played without both in the Big 12 Tournament, where Kansas was defeated by Cincinnati by 20 in the second round, but the Hall of Fame coach expects Dickinson and McCullar to practice Monday and be ready for the NCAA Tournament.
“We have struggled lately. But we haven’t been complete yet, either,” said Self, whose team matched its worst seeding since he took over the program before the 2003-04 season. “If we can get complete we can compete with anybody. We’ve proven that.”
I’LL SHOW YOU
Will Wade has McNeese dancing for the first time since 2002 in his first year at the school. He previously led VCU and LSU to the NCAA tournament before the Tigers fired him in March 2022 amid an investigation into recruiting violations.
Wade missed the first 10 games of this season and was given a two-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA, but that didn’t stop the Cowboys from going 30-3 and winning the Southland to earn the No. 12 seed and a first-round game with Gonzaga.
AWAY FROM THE BRINK AND SUCCESSFUL
Virginia barely made it into the NCAA Tournament after losing to North Carolina State. They are the No. 10 seed in the Midwest and will need to beat Colorado State to play against seventh-seeded Texas.
PEOPLE THAT ARE KNOWN
If Montana State can get past Grambling State and somehow beat Purdue, they could face eighth-seeded Utah State. The Aggies, who would need to win against No. 9 seed TCU, are coached by Danny Sprinkle, who led Montana State to the tournament in the past.
UNEXPECTED GOOD THINGS HAPPEN
South Carolina, led by second-year coach Lamont Paris, returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017, when they made a surprising Final Four run as the No. 7 seed. They will start against No. 11 seed Oregon.
The surprise Elite Eight run by Saint Peter's in 2022 was incredible. Just like in the past, the Peacocks are the No. 15 seed and will start against Tennessee, an SEC opponent.