Another year, another undefeated non-conference season? In recent years Purdue has done an incredible job building a solid NCAA Tournament profile with difficult non-conference schedules. The Boilermakers
have now won five consecutive early season tournaments and they are 47-3 in their last 50 regular season non-conference games. That’s an almost unheard of run, especially when you consider the competition. Alabama has been a victim three times in that stretch during the best run of play in their program’s history. Tennessee, Gonzaga, Marquette, Duke, North Carolina, and Villanova have also been tagged there.
That is a big reason that Purdue has been a number one seed in two of the last three NCAA Tournaments. After another fast start the Boilers are in line for a No. 1 seed yet again. This year’s non-conference slate is similar to two years ago, when Purdue won possibly the most loaded Maui Invitational field ever as well as games on neutral courts over Alabama and No. 1 Arizona.
That makes the non-conference tracker a lot of fun. Purdue still has marquee games left against Marquette, Iowa State, and Auburn, but it has already locked down multiple solid wins. Two of those three games are in Mackey Arena, while the Auburn game will be in front of a partisan crowd in Indianapolis. If Purdue goes undefeated against this slate going into conference play another No. 1 seed is extremely likely.
Purdue Boilermakers Profile
Record: 6-0, 0-0 Big Ten
NET: 16
KenPom: 2
Bracket Matrix Consensus Seed: 1
Tier 1 Wins (KenPom) Home 1-30; Neutral 1-50; Away 1-75: 17 Alabama (Away), 31 Texas Tech (Neutral)
Tier 2 Wins (KenPom): Home 31-75 Neutral 51-100; Away 76-135: 55 Akron (Home), 71 Memphis (Neutral)
Tier 1 Wins (NET) Home 1-30; Neutral 1-50; Away 1-75: 6 Alabama (Away), 8 Texas Tech (Neutral)
Tier 2: Home 31-75 (NET) Neutral 51-100; Away 76-135: 51 Memphis
Bad Losses (Sub-100 NET or KenPom): None
Evansville Purple Aces (3-4, 0-0 MVC) – NET 252, KenPom 283 – The Aces have just one win over a Division I team so far, over Oregon State on Friday at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. In the second round of that tourney they were blasted by fellow Purdue opponent Akron 97-59
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (1-5, 0-0 Horizon) – NET 187, KenPom 177 – I have to give Oakland credit for scheduling tough. Their first three games of the season came against Michigan, Purdue, and Houston all on the road. Their lone win so far is a non-D1 win over Defiance. They still might be one of the better teams in the Horizon league and will compete for that automatic bid.
Alabama Crimson Tide (3-1, 0-0 SEC) – NET 6, KenPom 17 – You’re not going to find a much better true road win for a team right now except maybe Arizona winning at UConn. The Tide immediately bounced back and won a partisan neutral game over Illinois in Chicago. They play Gonzaga tonight in Vegas.
Akron Zips (5-1, 0-0 MAC – NET 94, KenPom 55) – Akron probably is not an at large team, but the early computer numbers are really good and their lone loss is on the home floor of the nation’s best team. Theya re one of the favorites in the MAC and they play Yale tonight in the Paradise Jam title game. Given the dearth of talent on their non-con, this could be a 25 win team.
Memphis Tigers (1-4, 0-0 American) – NET 51, KenPom 71 – After a season opening win over a good San Francisco team Memphis is still looking for a second win. They nearly had it Friday night before Myles Colvin beat them at the buzzer. They have some work to do to get back on the NCAA Bubble good side.
Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-2, 0-0 Big 12) – NET 8, KenPom 31 – The Raiders ate 0-2 against the Big Ten with a four point loss at Illinois and the thrashing handed out by Purdue, but this is still a team that has a great shot at a top 4 seed. Their win over Wake Forest is pretty good and on December 13th they have a nice neutral site game against Arkansas.
Eastern Illinois Panthers (2-3, 0-0 Ohio Valley) – NET 319, KenPom 314 – EIU is probably the weakest team on the schedule, and Friday afternoon is a light warmup after the Bahamas win and before Rutgers. They just lost at Kentucky by 46, so Purdue will very likely go to Rutgers next week at 7-0.
Iowa State Cyclones (4-0, 0-0 Big 12) – Net 12, KenPom 10 – Arguably this is the toughest non-conference game, but it will be in the friendly confines of Mackey Arena. It would still likely stay a Tier 1 win all year. Tonight they have a big game against ranked St. John’s in Vegas.
Marquette Golden Eagles (4-3, 0-0 Big East) – NET 29, KenPom 75 – Marquette, who ended Purdue’s lengthy non-conference winning streak last season in Milwaukee, has fallen off a bit. They were blown out by Indiana in Chicago, then lost back-to-back home games against Maryland and Dayton. They are still solid and will have some value.
Auburn Tigers (4-1, 0-0 SEC) – NET 3, KenPom 23 – The computers love Auburn so far, and there is a great chance to see how strong they are tonight when they play Oregon in Vegas before playing Michigan tomorrow. They fell to Houston by a point in Birmingham, so this is a team that can absolutely push Purdue in Indy.
Kent State Golden Flashes (6-1, 0-0 MAC) – NET 117, KenPom 122 – The Golden Flashes won their early season tournament and the lone loss is 103-97 to Troy in the season opener. They are a team that could push Akron in the MAC, but Akron is the one more likely to have an at large case.
