Purdue’s loss to Fairleigh Dickinson It was one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history, if not the biggest.
While the Boilermakers had a chance to win it late, it was still the No. 1 seed against the No. 16 seed. By all means, those games should be blowouts.
Because of this, the national media did not hold back their outrage over Purdue’s defeat.
“A full flammable garbage barge floating down the Wabash River. Purdue has a great legacy of success, but its current status as the Exxon Valdez of March in history has overwhelmed everything else.
“How the Big Ten regular-season champion and tournament champion could lose to a team that didn’t even win its conference tournament, I’m not sure. Fairleigh Dickinson was defeated by Merrimack in the Northeast Conference title game, which was ‘the’ division II as a transitioning school, and NEC is a terrible 0-31 in the NCAA tournament leading up to this game.
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“In all future context with Virginia and Vince will mope Purdue, the emphatic Big Ten regular season and tournament champions who lost, 63-58For the unnamed FDU in front of a sold-out and flipped-out crowd, the 152 became the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed since seeding construction began in 1985 at this absurd annual event.
“How do you win the Big Ten regular season by a significant distance, roll through the conference tournament and then come out and lose to a team ranked 275th in the kenpom.com efficiency ratings? A team, though , which only made it to the NCAA Tournament because Merrimack, which had defeated Fairleigh Dickinson in the NEC Championship Game, was ineligible for the Big Dance.
“You lose that game because you are afraid of it. Because you don’t have the mindset and determination to win it.”
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“If you scramble a movie script about an NCAA tournament, it would look exactly like this. During every possession on both sides of the floor on Friday, Ade was hounded by smaller foes. They raced ahead of him. And there were back and sides, trying to climb. Him like a jungle gym. Ade looked like a camp counselor playing against kids—and the kids won, 63-58. It was the men’s NCAA tournament. Second 16-over-1 win in U.S. history, and I’d argue a bigger upset than UMBC’s win over Virginia in 2018.”
“For all the great things Purdue accomplished this season, winning the league and the Big Ten Tournament, the fact is that their season is now tainted. It will not fade into the mists of history. It will leave a mark. This one of their Will be on permanent record, Painter’s permanent record, and will add to the general narrative that Painter and Purdue are epic post season underachievers. This is the third straight year the Boilers have been dispatched by a double-digit-seed opponent – No. 13 in the first round North Texas, No. 15 St. Peter in the Sweet 16, and now, No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round. And don’t forget her 2016 loss to 12th seed Arkansas,little Rock,
This article originally appeared on the Indianapolis Star: 2023 NCAA Tournament: Media thinks Purdue basketball ‘sucked’ at a loss
