Hopefully we all made it through the night after last night’s game quickly went from joyful blowout to full-on panic. I am simultaneously stunned that we won the game and stunned that we didn’t blow them
out given how well Purdue played for most of the game. The important thing is that it counts as a win.
Despite everything, I am encouraged that Purdue finally looked like the team we have expected, even if it was only for 30 minutes or so. The opening 14-1 stretch was the best basketball Purdue has played in a long time, so if it is a sign we’re coming out of the slump just as we hit the meat of the schedule that’s good.
The biggest thing from last night is that the win probably pushed Purdue closer to a 2 seed in March, whereas a loss might have closed the door to that. With seven games left Purdue probably has to go at least 6-1 to be in the discussion for a top seed. All seven could end up being tier 1 as well. The weakest team left on the schedule is Northwestern at 77, and 75 is the cutoff for a tier 1 road win. Indiana is also at 31, and the cutoff for home tier 1 wins is 30.
Despite everything, Purdue got its bet win of the season last night, and its toughest remaining games are at home. Thanks to Wisconsin upsetting Illinois in Champaign last night the Big Ten title is still possible as long as Michigan drops at least one other game outside of the Purdue game.
It’s gonna be a fight.
Purdue Boilermakers Profile
Record: 17-4, 7-3 Big Ten
KenPom: 9 (Down 1 from last week
Bracket Matrix Consensus Seed: 3
Tier 1 Wins (KenPom) Home 1-30; Neutral 1-50; Away 1-75: 14 Nebraska (Away),19 Iowa (Home),20 Alabama (Away), 22 Texas Tech (Neutral), 31 Auburn (Neutral), 36 Wisconsin (Away), 48 USC (Away)
Tier 2 Wins (KenPom): Home 31-75 Neutral 51-100; Away 76-135: 45 Washington (Home), 64 Akron (Home), 93 Memphis
Tier 1 Wins (NET) Home 1-30; Neutral 1-50; Away 1-75: 12 Nebraska (Away), 20 Texas Tech (Neutral), 23 Alabama (Away), 21 Iowa (Home), 32 Auburn (Neutral), 37 Wisconsin (Away), 49 USC (Away)
Tier 2: Home 31-75 (NET) Neutral 51-100; Away 76-135: 52 Washington (Home), 56 Akron (Home), 61 Washington (Home)
Bad Losses (Sub-100 NET or KenPom): None
Evansville Purple Aces (6-19, 1-12 MVC) – NET 282, KenPom 290 – Not much to say about Evansville. They lost in OT at Valpo on Friday 70-63, but picked up a surprising 88-80 win over Illinois State Monday night, just their second in the MVC.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (14-11, 10-4 Horizon) – NET 136, KenPom 129 – Only one game in the last week for Oakland, and it was a 91-78 loss at Cleveland State. They are still in second place in the Horizon League a game behind Wright State.
Alabama Crimson Tide (16-7, 6-4 SEC) – NET 23, KenPom 20 – The Tide picked up two nice wins over Texas A&M (100-97) and at Auburn (96-92) in the Iron Basketbowl. They are in a very crowded SEC field.
Akron Zips (19-5, 10-1 MAC) – NET 54, KenPom 64 – Akron is doing well in the MAC after a narrow 66-64 win at Eastern Michigan, but they fell 79-69 at Troy in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.
Memphis Tigers (12-11, 7-4 American) – NET 104, KenPom 93 – The Tigers are getting close to moving up to tier 2 in terms of our win. Last week they won at UAB 90-80 and home against Charlotte 77-54. They are not an NCAA team, but it is almost a quality non-conference win.
Texas Tech Red Raiders (17-6, 7-3 Big 12) – NET 20, KenPom 22 – Sunday the Red Raiders nabbed a 70-63 win at West Virginia. This Saturday they travel to No. 1 Arizona for a chance to really boost the value of this win.
Eastern Illinois Panthers (10-16, 6-9 Ohio Valley) – NET 319, KenPom 322 – Like Evansville, there is not a lot here in terms of value. The Panthers had a three game road trip since the last update and it included losses to Tennessee State (77-68), and a dismal Western Illinois team (79-70), but they did get a win over Tennessee Tech (60-54).
Iowa State Cyclones (21-3, 8-3 Big 12) – NET 7, KenPom 7 – Iowa State handled Baylor at home 72-69, but suffered an upset at TCU last night 62-55 to fall off the pace in the Big 12. They missed a great chance on catching up with Arizona, and now they have three straight games against ranked teams coming up.
Marquette Golden Eagles (9-16, 4-10 Big East) – NET 111, KenPom 103 – Marquette got a home win over Butler 70-55, but then suffered a tough loss at Villanova 77-74.
Auburn Tigers (14-10, 5-6 SEC) – NET 32, KenPom 31 – Auburn is this year’s team that played a difficult schedule and will ride a near .500 season to an NCAA berth. They have now lost three in a row after falling to Alabama (as mentioned above) and at home to Vanderbilt 84-76. They could still fall out of the tourney.
Kent State Golden Flashes (17-7, 8-3 MAC) – NET 144, KenPom 143 – The only game the Flashes have played in the last week was a narrow 66-65 loss in the MAC-Sun Belt challenge.
Likely NCAA Teams: Alabama, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Auburn
Possible NCAA teams (Could win Autobids): Akron, Kent State, Oakland
Could play to the Bubble: None
