Purdue will Win the NCAA Tournament - Reasons Why By Theo Franz

New Reasons

• People had a hard time forgetting how hard it was for this team to get past the first two rounds. Nearly a third of NCAA.com brackets chalked the Boilermakers up for another quick end to a successful season against a blue blood team in High Point University. Too bad I got a memory of a lobotomized goldfish. They’re in the Sweet 16 and will continue to prove bracketologists wrong.

  
  

• Remember last time I said head coach Matt Painter’s tournament experience would prove to be valuable on a potential championship run if he were to make it to the Sweet 16? Well, I did say that. And I’m here to say it again, this time removing the hypotheticals and giving my stance some credibility.

  
  

• The Boilermakers are the lowest seed (4) in the strongest remaining section of the bracket (Midwest). Their upcoming game against No. 1 seeded Houston on Friday will be their toughest opponent since they played Auburn late December and a good chance it’ll be their toughest opponent for the rest of the tournament.

  
  

• I imagine beating a team with as much aura as McNeese State would only add onto your existing aura, as if you’re an evergrowing snake devouring the glowing dots of a slain enemy on Snake.io (I’m not getting paid to be your Gen Z translator–or to write this–so if you’re confused by any of it, I suggest you put that search bar to good use).

  
  

• Original Reasons

• Braden Smith is a pretty good basketball player. It really should be as simple as that, but I got stats to back it up. During Big Ten competition, the six-foot guard averaged 17.4 points, 8.9 assists, and 4.6 rebounds. He is the second player in the Big Ten to ever total 450 points, 250 assists, 125 rebounds and 60 steals in a season. The other was Magic Johnson. However, this is Smith’s second time doing so. To top it off, Smith was also named semifinalist for the Naismith Player of the Year on Friday.

  
  

• Two-time NBA All-Star Glenn Robinson’s former college teammate, Matt Painter, got over the hump last year and finally coached his “perennial contending” team into contention. That experience could prove valuable if they return to the Sweet 16.

  
  

• If numbers, names and previous experience doesn’t move the needle, hopefully the media’s opinion can change your mind. The Boilermakers closed out the regular season ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press poll.

Theo Franz