NCAA Tourney Profile: Purdue Boilermakers Basketball

Seed: 2, East Bracket

First Round Opponent: Cal State-Fullerton RPI: 131

Line: Purdue -20.5

Preview: This is the kind of game Purdue’s bigs should dominate. CSFU features no one over 6-10. These guys are somewhere around Ball State RPI-wise and have beaten exactly no one in the top 75. Interesting tidbit on Cal State-Fullerton, they have the highest free throw rate in the NCAAs. I’m guessing this is due to their guards having to compensate for their lack of size. my guess, Haas early, Haas often. Boilers dominate. End of story. Granted, this is why they play the games, right, Sparty fans?

Beyond the First Round

Here’s where things get interesting, as always. Purdue either gets an Arkansas team that is ranked 100+ in defensive efficiency or gets a Butler team they basically dominated in the Crossroads Classic. I still like Purdue to move through to the Sweet 16. However, a cold shooting night in Detroit is all it will take to have the Boilers’ hopes and dreams come crashing down.

Once into the second weekend, anything is possible. I would love nothing else than to see Purdue advance (and they do in my homer bracket) but reality tells me that Matt Painter’s crew may have peaked too soon.

Enjoy the games. I’ll be partaking as much as possible from Germany.

Hey, at least I’ll be able to avoid Charles Barkley’s expert opinion, right?