The reward of the regular season is to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and for the first time in 27 years Purdue has earned one. The Boilermakers are the No. 1 seed in the East Region and will open the 2023 NCAA Tournament in Columbus at Nationwide Arena, the home of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets.
As for the region itself, it will have a lot of familiar faces when it comes to Purdue’s history in the NCAA tournament. The opening game will be against the winner of a 16 seed play-in game on Wednesday night in nearby Dayton between Texas Southern and Fairleigh Dickinson. Texas Southern was a surprise winner in the SWAC, upsetting league champion Grambling in the tournament final. They are 14-20 on the year and even lost to Purdue’s final non-conference opponent, Florida A&M, 76-69. They do boast a win over an NCAA Tournament team, as they upset Arizona State 67-66 in November.
Fairleigh Dickinson has been a Purdue opponent before in a 1/16 game. Purdue beat them 94-79 in the 1988 NCAA Tournament, which was the first time Purdue was ever a No. 1 seed. They got into the tournament by default, as Merrimack won the Northeast Conference regular season title and conference tournament, but they are in the final year of their transition to Division I. Fairleigh Dickinson got the automatic bid as the league runner up at 19-15, 10-6. They did beat Merrimack twice in the regular season before losing the conference tournament final to them by a point, however. This is their seventh tournament appearance, and they did win a play-in game in their last appearance in 2019, beating Prairie View A&M before losing to Gonzaga by 38 points.
It is safe to say that Purdue will be a heavy favorite in the opening game, and with good reason. Nothing can be taken for granted, however, as the last time Purdue was a No. 1 seed it barely survived 16 seed Western Carolina by two points. Purdue’s round 2 game will be significantly more difficult. Purdue will play Memphis, a 26-8 team that won the American Athletic Conference Tournament over No. 1 seed Houston, or Florida Atlantic, a 31-3 team that won Conference USA. Their only losses were to Ole Miss, UAB, and Middle Tennessee State. This is only their second NCAA appearance ever and fist since 2002. They are coached by former Indiana manager Dusty May, who is going to be one of the hottest coaching candidates in the offseason. Florida Atlantic has major North Texas/Little Rock vibes as an opponent. As for Memphis, Purdue lost to the Tigers 66-48 in the second round in 1986 as a 3 seed. They also lost to Memphis 75-73 in the second round in 1995 as a 3 seed.
Purdue at least has the advantage of playing in nearby Columbus for the first two games, and if it reaches the Sweet 16 it will establish a new single-season school record for wins with 31. Once there, Purdue could have another familiar face: Tennessee. The Volunteers were 23-10 and named the 4 seed, while Duke, who Purdue beat back in November in Portland, is the 5 seed. The 12 seed playing Duke is particularly tricky as Oral Roberts features one of the nation’s best scorers in Max Abmas and they were in the Sweet 16 just two years ago. They also have 7’5” Connor Vanover as someone who could match up with Zach Edey. Oral Roberts is 30-4 and only lost to St. Mary’s, Houston, Utah State, and New Mexico.
In the other half of the East the No. 2 seed is Marquette. Purdue beat the Golden Eagles in the third game of the year by 5 and it now looks like one of the best on-campus non-conference games of the year. Kansas State at 23-9 earned a 3 seed out of the Big 12, and they famously beat Purdue 73-70 in the 1988 Sweet 16. Michigan State, who Purdue beat twice, is another familiar face as the 7 seed. Always tough Kentucky, with last year’s National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe, is the 6 seed.
Overall, this is a very, very difficult region. Purdue should have a relatively easy round 1 game, and a loss there would be one of the largest upsets in NCAA Tournament history. Facing Memphis or Florida Atlantic is a really tough 8/9 opponent. A Sweet 16 game against Tennessee, Duke, or Oral Roberts as a Cinderella is not easy. Should Purdue reach the Elite 8 Tshiebwe vs. Zach Edey would be a very old school big man matchup, while Marquette is a very different team than the one Purdue beat over four months ago.
Still, Purdue is a No. 1 seed, the Big Ten Champion, and Big Ten Tournament champion. The No. 1 seed is more than earned, and the run starts on Friday.
