Hammer and Rails · Mar 22, 2022
2022 NCAA Tournament: Why (and why not) Purdue can make the Final Four
We’re 80 minutes away.
This is the sixth time under Matt Painter Purdue has made the Sweet 16. He has now passed his predecessor, Gene Keady, in that category, as Gene only made it to the second weekend in 1988, 1994, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Getting to the second weekend is both an accomplishment and a tease. Winning two high pressure games in three days is tough. Occasionally, you get a big advantage as a higher seed like Purdue did against Yale and have a relatively easy game, but round 2 games are often wars. We survived ours. Baylor didn’t. Gonzaga, Kansas, and Arizona as No. 1 seeds almost didn’t. Two seeds Auburn and Kentucky are already home, as are three seeds Tennessee and Wisconsin.