The Purdue Boilermakers were dealt a serious blow on Friday Night when they were quite simply embarrassed by Michigan State in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. This comes directly after losing in Iowa to close out the regular season.
These two steps in the wrong direction could come back to hurt the Boilermakers come Sunday when the committee considers where to draw the line between the 2, 3 and 4 seeds.
By: Nick Grays
In Purdue’s favor, the Wisconsin Badgers looked even worse than the Boilermakers in their 36-33 loss to Penn State. Unless Michigan or Michigan State goes on to win the Big Ten Tournament with a couple of blowout wins, you would have to think Purdue will be considered the second best out of the conference.
Following Friday’s Big Ten Tourney loss, E’Twaun Moore was asked about where he thought the team would be seeded.
“I mean, I’m not really sure. I don’t know what those guys go off of or anything. All I know is we’ve got to be ready to play come tournament time, and we’ve got to find a way to get wins,” said Moore.
I know we say this almost every year, but the committee really has their work set out for them this season, particularly in the seeding process. If you look at Purdue’s entire body of work, they still have a great RPI (11) and strength of schedule (22).
Moreover, the Boilermakers are 9-4 versus the RPI top 50, something which bodes well for predicting the success of a team in the first couple rounds of the NCAA tourney. While Purdue has been a different team on the road this season, they still compiled a 7-5 record away from home and a 2-2 record on neutral courts.
From what I see, I think Purdue is still a #3 seed, but whether they get to play in Chicago is a big question mark right now. This is where “what have you done for me lately,” may hurt them in the selection process.
Regardless of where the Boilermakers are inevitably seeded, Big Ten Player of the Year JaJuan Johnson knows they can move on from the recent hiccups and play well in their next tournament.
“I definitely think so. Last year we definitely had a good showing here, but we kind of used that to help our — in the tournament. We went to the Sweet 16, and I think this year we have a better team than we did last year. We still are capable of doing some special things, we’ve just got to really come together as a team and move forward,” said Johnson.
TSB’s Bracketologist David Kay has the Purdue Boilermakers as a #3 seed playing in Chicago (West Regional) in his latest projection.
Do you think Purdue gets a #3 seed or will they drop to a #4? Let me know by commenting below!
Nick Grays is a senior editor at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Brewers. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best.