Purdue basketball became the first 7-seed in the Big Ten Tournament to win it all. With the season they’ve had, can they make a run in the NCAA Tournament as well?
Purdue head coach Matt Painter has seen better seasons with the Boilermakers, but the team won four games over four straight days, exemplifying some great basketball. This will be Purdue’s 11th consecutive season earning a bid to the dance and its 9th consecutive year receiving a top-4 seed.
How they got there:
Purdue Basketball fans aren’t easy to please, so losing four of their last six games wasn’t exactly thrilling for their viewers. Expectations were high as Purdue opened as the No. 1 seed in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll. This was the first time in school history sitting at the very top during the preseason rankings.
Before the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue was a projected No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Boilermakers saw regular season losses to No. 10 Iowa State, UCLA, No. 11 Illinois, Indiana, No. 1 Michigan, No. 13 Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin. They did have some notable wins, however, against No. 8 Alabama, No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 21 Auburn, and Nebraska.
Purdue’s Big Ten Tournament run included victories against Northwestern, No. 11 Nebraska, UCLA, and the 2025 reigning champs, No. 3 Michigan.
Well deserved, Boilermakers 🚂🚂#B1GMBBT x @BoilerBall pic.twitter.com/6kqRFdbsG6
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) March 15, 2026
Taking home the Big Ten title certainly had an effect on their NCAA Tournament seeding, as many weren’t expecting them to be a 2-seed.
General information:
Team: Purdue
Location: West Lafayette, IN
Record: (27-8, 13-7)
Head Coach: Matt Painter (20th season at Purdue, 21st overall)
What to know about Purdue basketball:
There is no doubt that Purdue basketball has an elite roster that is versatile, experienced, and connected. Their core consists of three players who have played together for three to four years. Seniors Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn are leaders on the team and have played hundreds of games together, a rarity in today’s transfer portal era.
Senior Oscar Cluff, sophomore C.J. Cox, and redshirt freshman Jack Benter are also among Purdue’s stacked roster.
Something to acknowledge before Purdue hits the court on Mar. 20 is Smith’s assist record- it’s that story that everyone would’ve been talking about after the Big Ten Championship had Smith dished out one more assist.
Smith is only 1 assist away from tying former Duke guard Bobby Hurley’s NCAA career assist record (1,076), which he has held since 1993. During the Big Ten Tournament championship, Smith recorded 11 assists. Purdue fans at the United Center were aware of how close Smith was to this record, so every time he got the ball, there was a nervous tension in the air.
In the Big Ten Tournament championship game, Braden Smith just changed into Jersey #41.
Smith is 9 assists away from breaking former Duke guard Bobby Hurley’s NCAA career assist record (1,076). @CbbReview #b1gmbbt #purduebasketball #bigtentournament #collegebasketball pic.twitter.com/uPAn5FDECe
— Grace Jeffer (@gracejeffer) March 15, 2026
Smith was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. While getting close to an NCAA record, Smith created some Big Ten records as well. Wearing #41 instead of his usual #3 jersey, Smith finished out the tournament with the single tournament (46) and career (96) assists records.
Cluff (21) and Kaufman-Renn (20) combined for 41 of Purdue’s 80 championship-game points.
As for the team as a whole, it seems the Boilermakers have woken up now during the postseason after having a somewhat uncharacteristic regular season.
This is a deliberate team that doesn’t rush their shots on offense. They also only turned the ball over twice in the championship game.
On the road, Purdue looks like a much stronger team. Mackey Arena used to be where the Boilermakers thrived; however, it seems they prefer to take their good days elsewhere.
NCAA Tournament prediction for Purdue Basketball: Elite 8 exit
Seed: 2
Purdue takes on 15-seed Queens in the West Region on Mar. 20 at 7:35 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Queens received a bid as the ASUN Conference Tournament champion.
They won’t be a complete pushover for the Boilermakers; however, they should still see the second round. Queens is averaging 84.9 points per game and looks for the shot beyond the arc often.
In the interior, however, the Royals don’t have a ton of size, which will suit Cluff and Kaufman-Renn well. If Purdue continues playing with the hunger that they did in the Big Ten Tournament, they will win this first game.
In the second round, Purdue would face the winner of the 7-seed Miami-10-seed Missouri matchup.
Top seeds in the West region include 1-seed Arizona, 3-seed Gonzaga, 4-seed Arkansas, and 5-seed Wisconsin.
Arizona is a favorite to win the whole tournament, behind Duke and Michigan. Gonzaga is a top-three seed for the first time since 2023. Meanwhile, Arkansas has won 13 of its past 15 games.
Purdue’s high-powered offense, combined with its chemistry on the court, should take them to the Elite 8. Making it past No. 1 Arizona, which has had really only one bad week all season, will be difficult.