Purdue Basketball: Do Boilermakers have a shot at the Final Four?

Purdue Basketball’s part of the bracket is now wide open. Can the Boilermakers break through and make the Final Four?

Following the Round of 32 matchup between 3-seed Purdue basketball and 6-seed Texas, the Boilermakers’ attention will turn to the NCAA tournament’s Cinderella team: the St. Peter’s Peacocks. With two games down and three to go to reach a national title game, Purdue now has a clear path ahead of them to reach their first Final Four since 1980.

Purdue’s NCAA tournament thus far

Heading into the 2022 NCAA tournament, the Boilermakers left many fans worried. Though Purdue ranked as one of the nation’s top offensive teams in terms of production, the Boilermakers left much to be desired on the defensive end of the court. They also had some questionable performances throughout the 2021-22 season.

After cruising past the Ivy League champion Yale Bulldogs, Purdue faced a more significant challenge: the Texas Longhorns. Texas ranked as one of the nation’s top defensive teams and came into Sunday night’s matchup with momentum on their side.

In a game that came down to the free-throw line, the Boilermakers eventually overcame Texas despite a hard-fought game from the Longhorns. After 40 minutes of intense basketball, Purdue defeated Texas 81-71. The win sends the Boilermakers to the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time since 2010 and is the fourth time in the Boilermakers’ last five tournaments that they have reached with Sweet Sixteen. The win also gives Prude their first shot at an Elite Eight since 2019.

What comes next for Purdue basketball?

On Friday, March 25th, Purdue will take on St. Peter’s — this year’s Cinderella team — for a shot at the Elite Eight. Even though it may seem like an easy victory for the fast-paced Boilermakers, the Peacocks have already downed two tournament high-rollers: 2-seed Kentucky and 7-seed Murray State.

With much greater size and talent, Purdue should manage to down St. Peter’s with no issue and face either 5-seed St. Mary’s or 4-seed UCLA — both teams have had great success in this year’s tournament thus far — in the Elite Eight.

If and when the Boilermakers make it past all of these teams, they will be met by one of the following teams in the Final Four:

• 1-seed Gonzaga
• 2-seed Duke
• 3-seedTexas Tech
• 4-seed Arkansas

With the Boilermakers’ current path, the Final Four looks pretty possible; their success is now in their own hands. For the first time since 1980, Purdue has a chance to hang a Final Four banner from the rafters at Mackey Arena, and Purdue is undoubtedly talented enough to do so.