(Marvin Gentry | AL.com)
In the NCAA bracket preview, Purdue was listed as the 8th overall team and the lowest 2-seed in the selection committee’s bracket preview. That’s a strong showing for a team who, just a few weeks ago, was in the midst of a three game losing streak and very apparent struggles that many began questioning the legitimacy of their pre-season number one ranking. Those sentiments have seemingly all been wiped away following a big home victory over Indiana.
Purdue has positioned itself well as the season winds down and the B1G and NCAA Tourney inch closer. With a 22-5 overall record and no loses outside of the top 42 teams in both the NET and Kenpom rankings, Purdue has as good of a resume as any other in the country. When taking the seeding into account, three of Purdue’s five losses have come to overall #1 seed Michingan #1 Iowa State (#4 overall), and #2 Illinois (#7 overall).
The Boilers don’t have a lot of big opportunities to continue improving upon their resume ahead of the B1G Tournament as they will square off against Michigan State (NET: 12 | Kenpom: 10), Wisconsin (NET: 34 | Kenpom: 31), Ohio State (NET: 38 | Kenpom: 36), and Northwestern (NET: 78 | Kenpom: 70). The Boilers likely need to win out to 100% assure themselves of staying on their projected 2-seed line but can move up if others ahead of them slip.