Bracketology 2023: March Madness impact of Purdue-Penn State in Big Ten Championship

The Purdue Boilermakers and Penn State Nittany Lions square off in the Big Ten championship game on Sunday afternoon. Later in the day, the March Madness bracket will be revealed on Selection Sunday. Chances are both of these teams will be in, but we're going to break down the NCAA Tournament impact.

2023 March Madness: Purdue vs. Penn State

The Boilermakers will have a strong case at a No. 1 seed by winning the Big Ten. Purdue spent most of non-conference play as the No. 1 team in the country before losing to Rutgers. Since then, Purdue has lost four other Big Ten matchups and dropped to No. 5 in the AP poll heading into Championship week. Purdue has arguably the best player in the country in Zach Edey and a slew of great non-conference wins – Duke, Gonzaga, West Virginia and Marquette.

Penn State should still get in despite a loss to Purdue. The Nittany Lions are on the bubble but have played their way in by reaching this game. Both CBS Sports and ESPN have Penn State getting in as one of the four last teams with a bye (avoiding the First Four). A loss to Purdue maybe drops Penn State back to an 11-seed and the First Four? It still seems unlikely at this point. PSU could also secure a higher seed.

A Purdue loss could shake things up in terms of No. 1 seeds. Right now, you've got 6-7 teams who could realistically get top overall seeds including Purdue. Those teams are Houston, Kansas, Alabama, UCLA and Texas. If the Boilermakers lose, they'd likely drop to a 2-seed with Kansas, Alabama, Houston and UCLA/Texas comprising the field of 1-seeds.

Penn State winning also has a big bubble impact. The Nittany Lions were likely in anyway but they also get the automatic bid from winning the Big Ten, plus Purdue is in. It also could mean the committee bumps Penn State up to an 8 or 9 seed in the tourney field. Most bracketologists have PSU as a 10-seed.

  
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