The NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 14th with the First Four, and then moves on to the First Round on Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17. The No. 1 seed Purdue Boilermakers will face the No. 16 seed Texas Southern Tigers /Fairleigh Dickinson Knights on Friday, March 17.
Here's an early look at what we can expect from the matchup.
Once odds from DraftKings Sportsbook are made available for this game, we'll add that information below. We'll also add the game time and TV channel once it's settled.
Game date: Friday, March 17
Game time: TBA
TV channel: TBA
Location: Columbus, OH
Odds: TBA
No. 1 Purdue
Purdue looked like the nation's top team for a large chunk of the regular season, but faded a bit down the stretch. After starting 23-1, the Boilermakers lost four of six games before knocking off Wisconsin and Illinois to close out the campaign. Now, the question remains, was the rough end to the regular season a blip or what we should expect in the tournament?
Zach Edey is clearly among the top players in the country after averaging 21.9 points and 12.8 rebounds per game. He is unguardable and is a vacuum on the boards. Purdue may over rely on Edey, but for good reason: guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith average fewer points than the towering center. That being said, as Purdue ventures deeper into the tournament, opposing teams are going to make someone other than Edey beat them and Loyer or Smith will have to step up.
Record: 28-5, 15-5 Big Ten
Coach: Matt Painter
Qualifier: At-Large
KenPom overall: 5
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 5
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 27
Pace: 328
PPP overall: 1.112
Leading scorer: Zach Edey
NET: 5
Quad 1 record: 9-4
Against The Spread: 13-18-2
Over Total: 15-18
No. 16 Texas Southern
Texas Southern is back in the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season, defeating Grambling State to win its third consecutive SWAC Tournament title. The Tigers were able to pull this off despite experiencing a down year, finishing the regular season with an 11-20 record. As a result, they've become just the third 20-loss team to make the NCAA Tournament in history.
Sophomore forward Davon Barnes led the team in scoring with 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds through the regular season. Also look out for senior forward Joirdan Karl Nicholas, who nearly averaged a double-double with 10.9 points and nine rebounds per game.
Record: 12-20, 7-11 SWAC
Coach: Steve Lutz
Qualifier: Automatic
KenPom overall: 285
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 330
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 195
Pace: 72
PPP overall: 0.922
Leading scorer: Davon Barnes
NET: 292
Quad 1 record: 0-4
Against The Spread: 11-19-2
Over Total: 14-18
Odds to win NCAA Championship: TBD
No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson
Despite losing the Northeast Conference Tournament to Merrimack, Fairleigh Dickinson earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament due to Merrimack still being in the midst of its four-year reclassification process.
After going 4-22 last season, the Knight have made a tremendous turnaround under new coach Tobin Anderson, and are led by senior guards Demetre Roberts (16.7 PPG) and Ansley Almonor (13.9 PPG) – both of whom followed Anderson from his previous school.
Record: 17-15, 10-6 NEC
Coach: Tobin Anderson
Qualifier: Automatic
KenPom overall: 312
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 155
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 361
Pace: 110
PPP overall: 1.067
Leading scorer: Demetre Roberts
NET: 301
Quad 1 record: 0-1
Against The Spread: 13-18-1