NCAA Tournament March Madness

#5 Purdue

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Projected seed: 2

Purdue’s profile reads like a team with an elite offensive identity and a resume anchored by real road and neutral-court success, most notably a gritty road victory at Alabama and authoritative neutral-site wins over Memphis and Texas Tech, while a road win at Rutgers shows they can travel. The most damaging entry is the lopsided loss to Iowa State, which is the clear blemish that forces questions about consistency and how the defense holds up against top opponents. The rest of the nonconference slate and early conference results give a sense of an offense that can blow teams out and a defense that is solid but beatable, so road dates at USC and UCLA and the remaining tests against Michigan, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin loom as the opportunities to prove this is a team that can finish strong away from home. Wins in those spots would validate the signature neutral and road victories already on the resume, while any slip-ups to lesser opponents would undo a lot of hard work. Overall the team’s best moments show it can hang with quality opposition outside its building and the remainder of the schedule presents plenty of chances to turn potential into résumé-defining results.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4Evansville281W82-51
11/7Oakland145W87-77
11/13@Alabama13W87-80
11/16Akron54W97-79
11/20(N)Memphis64W80-71
11/21(N)Texas Tech19W86-56
11/28E Illinois337W109-62
12/2@Rutgers135W81-65
12/6Iowa St2L81-58
12/10Minnesota115W85-57
12/13Marquette9395%
12/20(N)Auburn3074%
12/29Kent12897%
1/3@Wisconsin3869%
1/7Washington4889%
1/10Penn St11096%
1/14Iowa2280%
1/17@USC3567%
1/20@UCLA3165%
1/24Illinois967%
1/27@Indiana2160%
2/1@Maryland9587%
2/7Oregon9195%
2/10@Nebraska2763%
2/14@Iowa2260%
2/17Michigan144%
2/20Indiana2179%
2/26Michigan St1269%
3/1@Ohio St3668%
3/4@Northwestern6178%
3/7Wisconsin3885%