With Purdue’s loss to Arizona in the Elite Eight, my brackets, and my remaining interest in this tournament, are officially toast.
Tag / Arizona
2025-2026 Final Standings
Purdue’s men’s basketball season came to an end on Sunday, falling to Arizona in the Elite Eight. It was a disappointing, but appropriate, end for a team ranked #1 in the pre-season and expected to compete for a national title but struggled throughout the conference schedule. While home tickets remained hard to come by this season, I did manage to see six games in five arenas across four states, thanks to a January trip out west to California, a Valentine’s Day visit to Iowa City, and the Big Ten Tournament here at the United Center, tied for the greatest number of games I’ve attended in a single season while adding both the Galen Center and Pauley Pavilion to my collection.
2026 Team Records – Men
| TeamName | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA Bruins | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Purdue Boilermakers | 5 | 1 | 0.833 |
| USC Trojans | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Northwestern Wildcats | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
How Sweet It Is
The Sweet Sixteen kicks off today following an opening weekend light on upsets and heavy on top seeds, although I did manage to lose my champion pick. Three of my Final Four picks are still intact, which is better than usual.
A disappointing showing from the Big Ten in this region, leading to two of my three misses.
Purdue heads to its third straight Sweet Sixteen, which ties its longest streak in program history and is their seventh trip in the last nine years.
Put On Your Dancing Shoes
The nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks as the NCAA tournament kicks off later today. I’m not in any pools this year, so most of these selections have no ultimate bearing on my life, aside from personal pride. With the Final Four and the Championship taking place just down the road in Indianapolis, I may have to expend a not-insignificant amount of money should a certain school from West Lafayette manage to make it that far. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at this year’s selections.
Maybe it is personal bias, but I am expecting big things from the two Big Ten teams in this bracket, including one making their way to the Final Four.
Purdue followed up a disappointing end to the regular season with a spirited run through the Big Ten Tournament to capture the championship. Are they fixed? Well, I hope so since I have them coming out of this region and heading to Indy. Continue reading →
Oh So Sweet
The Sweet Sixteen kicks off today following an opening weekend light on upsets and heavy on top seeds. Three of my Final Four picks are still intact, which is better than usual.
Things look good here in the South region, as I have a clean bracket heading into this weekend.
A few picked upsets that didn’t happen mar the bottom half of this region, but the top half, including my reginal champion, is clean.
Dancing Time
The nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks as the NCAA tournament kicks off later today. I found myself joining a free pool at work this year, so while most of these selections have no ultimate bearing on my life, there is some personal pride on the line. Things are not looking good for me to attend any game should a certain school from West Lafayette manage to make another run this year. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at this year’s selections.
My selections here are mostly chalk, with a couple early upsets but with the top two seeds heading to the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan State is my pick to advance to the Final Four, though that may be some inherent bias towards the Big Ten.
Old friend Mason Gillis shows up with top seed Duke, who I have heading to San Antonio for the Final Four.
How Sweet (16) It Is
The Sweet Sixteen kicks off today following an opening weekend with upsets galore that played havoc with my bracket, although my entire Final Four is still intact, which is better than some.
Things look pretty decent here. Auburn’s loss to Yale knocked me for a bit of a loop, but, aside from that, things are fairly clean, with three of the four teams heading into this weekend still alive.
Things are slightly worse on this side of the bracket, with just two of the four teams I picked playing this weekend. While Nebraska did me dirty, I correctly picked that Wisconsin had peaked after beating Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament two weeks ago.
It’s Time To Dance
The nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks as the NCAA tournament kicks off later today. I’m not in any pools this year, so most of these selections have no ultimate bearing on my life, aside from personal pride. I do have the potential to purchase tickets for future rounds should a certain school from West Lafayette manage to get out of their own way and not embarrass themselves this weekend. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at this year’s selections.
My selections here are mostly chalk, with a couple early upsets but with the top four seeds heading to the Sweet Sixteen. Iowa State is my pick to advance to the Final Four.
Fun fact: the first men’s college basketball game I ever attended was Purdue versus Houston at Market Square Arena back in 1993. Both teams are once again top seeds in this tournament. I’m hoping Nebraska continues to pull off upsets against teams they have no business beating. In the end, though, I have Marquette going on to Phoenix.
We Are, Once Again, #1
For the third season in a row, and the third season in program history, Purdue is the #1 ranked men’s college basketball team in the country. Following their victories over #11 Gonzaga, # 7 Tennessee, and #4 Marquette while winning the Maui Invitational last week, the team moved up from #2 to take the top spot, becoming the first Big Ten program to do so in three consecutive seasons.
Their next big test will come in three weeks, when they battle Arizona, the current #2 ranked team, on a neutral court in the Indy Classic. Hopefully they will retain their #1 ranking when I head to Mackey on December 21st to see them battle Jacksonville.
The Big 18
Not even two months since the Big Ten announced their “Flex Protect Plus” model, which incorporated UCLA and USC into the football schedule for 2024 and beyond, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. The conference grew again yesterday when Oregon and Washington, formerly of the PAC-12, would join the conference starting with the fall 2024 semester. The move further extends the reach of the Big Ten on the West Coast.
On the field, the move gives the Big Ten additional content to sell to their media rights providers and an additional footprint in the west to help cut down on the travel requirements for student athletes. Off the field, the Big Ten Network will get the opportunity to expand into multiple markets in the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, the PAC-12, who also lost Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah to the Big 12 this week, looks to be on the verge of collapse, with only four schools remaining as of now for the 2024-2025 school year.
With the 2023 college football season about to start in about a month, the schedule-makers will need to revamp their approach to account for the new schools. Do they simply add Oregon and Washington into the mix? Split the 18 schools into three divisions of six teams each? Two divisions of nine? I imagine we will find out sooner rather than later while waiting for the next pair of dominos to drop.