Purdue March Madness Predictions

Article Updated March 14th, 2010

Making their 4th straight trip the NCAA March Madness Tournament this year will be the Purdue Boilermakers. The only thing different for Purdue at this year's tournament will be their personal expectations. Although Purdue has been a great basketball team for the majority of the year, they were ousted in the 2nd round of the Big Ten tournament by the un-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. However, the Boilermakers have not lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament since 1993, and could still be in a spot to make some noise this time around.

Purdue Boilermakers Tournament Prediction

In 23 tournament appearances, the Boilermakers have a record of just 31-23 with only 2 Final Four appearances , finishing 2nd in 1969, and 3rd in 1980. This is also a team looking for their first NCAA Tournament Championship in school history, with a lot to prove in order to be a consistent threat in this tournament. The Boilermakers have shown the ability to get past the first round, but the 2nd round has been much more of a problem as they are 1-3 in 2nd round games in their last 4 tournament appearances. However, I believe the 09/10' Boilermakers are much more sound defensive team, and have a much better shot at getting past the 2nd round this time around. Furthermore, I will expect a Sweet Sixteen appearance from Purdue, and will not rule them out of any further accomplishments in this year's tournament.

Click Here To Place A Bet On PURDUE During The March Madness

How do you think Purdue will do? Leave your comments below!

blog comments powered by Disqus

Article Written February 22nd, 2010

Team Offense - As previously mentioned, this whole team revolves around the trio of Juniors that lead the way on both offense and defense. Those Juniors are Guard E-Twaun Moore who leads the team with 17.2 points and 2.9 assists per game, Forward Robbie Hummel who ranks 2nd next to Moore in scoring and assists, but leads the Boilermakers with 7.2 rebounds per game, and Forward/Center JaJuan Johnson who is 3rd in team scoring with 14.8 points per game and 2nd behind Hummel with 7.0 rebounds per contest. The Purdue offense has reached the century mark in points on just one occasion this year, but it is game-by-game consistency on offense all season long that has propelled the Boilermakers into 3rd spot in the nation. An average of 74.0 points per game is not anything spectacular, which sets up the defense to be the key to success for this Purdue team.

Team Defense - A Purdue defense that averages just 61.3 points against per game this season is a huge reason why the Boilermakers see themselves ranked at the top with the best teams in the country. On some occasions this season, the Purdue defense has looked like the absolute best in the nation. On 11 occasions this season, the Boilermakers have allowed 60 or less points, and on 4 occasions allowed less than 50 points against. They even held Central Michigan to 38 points on November 28th. A huge part of the Boilermaker defense is their ability to rebound the ball in their own end of the court. That strong effort on the glass is led by no other than Robbie Hummel and JaJuan Johnson, who have 143 and 114 defensive rebounds respectively, while the 6'10" Johnson averages 2 blocks per game as well. I look for this defense to be the key to success in propelling this Boilermaker team deep into this tournament.