Purdue Boilermakers Odds to Win NCAA Championship

Written by Jason Lowry

purdue-basketball It hasn’t been easy for the Boilermakers this Tournament, but the No.5 seed is still alive and is awaiting a Sweet 16 matchup with the No.1 seeded UConn Huskies. The Boilermakers are one of only two teams that come into the Sweet 16 with a seed lower than a 4, as all twelve 1-3 seeds advanced. The only team seeded lower than the Boilermakers is the No.12 seeded Arizona Wildcats out of the Midwest region. It’s not going to be easy for the Boilermakers, but this tournament has been pretty much upset free, so maybe a few are waiting to happen. Here is look at how the Boilermakers got to the Sweet 16 and what it will take for them to win it all.

It hasn’t been easy for the Boilermakers in the NCAA Tournament, as they nearly blew a 12 point first half lead against Northern Iowa in the first round before finally hanging on for a 61-56 win. The Boilermakers then faced the No.4 seeded Washington Huskies in round 2, and nearly let the same thing happen again, as they built a 11 point half time lead only to see Washington come roaring back in the 2nd half. The game went down to the wire with the Boilermakers holding on for a a slim 76-74 win. The Boilermakers have thrived off the play of JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, as both have scored in double figures in both of the Boilermakers two wins. The biggest performance came from the Johnson against Washington, as the sophomore scored 22 points, but it wasn’t his scoring that won the game it was his defense, as Johnson had two of his four blocks in the final minute of the game when the Huskies were knocking right on the door down just two points. The Huskies likely won’t have the luxury of letting a lead slip away against UConn this weekend, as it will take everything the Boilermakers have to make it to the Elite 8.

With so many good teams still alive in the tournament its going to be really hard for the Boilermakers to win it all, let alone make it past UConn this Thursday. The Boilermakers will need both Johnson and Moore to play even better than they have in the first two rounds, and will likely need a couple more players to step up if they want to keep on advancing in the tournament. The reason the Boilermakers have any shot at advancing past UConn and moving on to the Final Four is this team knows how to play defense, and while big time players can light up the scoreboards and take over games, a great team defense can overcome those players and win you the close games. If the Boilermakers are able to get by the Huskies in Sweet 16 action it won’t get any easier, as they will have to face the winner of the Missouri Memphis game in the Elite 8 and if they are able to win that, they have to face the winner of the Midwest region that has the likes of Louisville, Michigan State, and Kansas.

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