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.
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 →
The Purdue men’s basketball team kicks off the 2025-2026 regular season tonight against Evansville. With Danny out of school and losing my John Purdue Club pre-sale opportunities, it may be a while before I attend another regular season home game, but, like last year, I can look for road opportunities. So, with the 129th season in school history about to get underway, let’s take a look at the results of the now 25 men’s college basketball games I have attended in my lifetime, with the latest coming at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa.
All-Time Team Records – Men
| Team | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Hoosiers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| North Texas Mean Green | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Virginia Commonwealth Rams | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Butler Bulldogs | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Purdue Boilermakers | 17 | 7 | 0.708 |
| Northwestern Wildcats | 2 | 3 | 0.400 |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | 2 | 4 | 0.333 |
| Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Gonzaga Bulldogs | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Houston Cougars | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Long Beach State 49ers | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Vermont Catamounts | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Jacksonville Dolphins | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
Purdue’s men’s basketball season came to an end last weekend, falling to Houston in the Sweet Sixteen. It was a strong showing, coming off their appearance in the title game last year and the loss of Zach Edey. Tickets were hard to come by this season, and the only game I was able to attend was in Iowa City, adding Carver-Hawkeye Arena to my collection.
2025 Team Records – Men
| Team | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue Boilermakers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
In a tournament that has been lacking any major upsets, it is fitting that the Final Four contains the four #1 seeds for just the second time ever. My bracket is officially toasted, so congratulations to whatever team winds up winning.
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.
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.
Fresh off of an appearance in the championship game of last year’s NCAA tournament, the Purdue men’s basketball team kicks off the 2024-2025 regular season tomorrow night. With Danny out of school and an expanded Big Ten limiting how often each team visits the other schools in the conference, it may be a while before I attend another regular season game. So, with the 128th season in school history about to get underway, let’s take a look at the results of the now 24 men’s college basketball games I have attended in my lifetime. You’d think it would be more, since I was a big fan and we had a great team while I was in school, but for some reason I only made it to two games while enrolled in college. The other 22 have been post-graduation, having added four games last year, two at Mackey and two in Detroit for the NCAA tournament. Anyway, without further ado, here are the standings for those 24 games.
All-Time Team Records – Men
| Team | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Texas Mean Green | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Indiana Hoosiers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Virginia Commonwealth Rams | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Butler Bulldogs | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Purdue Boilermakers | 16 | 7 | 0.696 |
| Northwestern Wildcats | 2 | 3 | 0.400 |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | 2 | 4 | 0.333 |
| Gonzaga Bulldogs | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Houston Cougars | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Jacksonville Dolphins | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Vermont Catamounts | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Long Beach State 49ers | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
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.
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.