This is to put together an all time team to compete right now at the NBA level if they were in their prime. My top 5 won’t have tons of old timers because the game has evolved along with the size/skills of players. This isn’t the best college players at Purdue list. That would include Mount for sure. This is your best pro lineup.

PG: Jaden Ivey. Carson Edwards close second
SG: Etwaun Moore
SF: Glenn Robinson
PF: Carl Landry
C: Brad Miller

Center is the toughest position to fill in because of JBC, Cross, Edey.

And, have they seen Edey? I expect the whistle to be a big part of today's game. If they're not calling the hacks it will work against us.

What happened!!! 30 run UConn

Can’t lie, would be feeling much better with Creighton.

Earlier this season against Tennessee:

1) Zeigler was on a minutes restriction
2) Knecht scored 3 points in the 2nd half
3) Purdue shot 48 free throws
4) Loyer scored 27 points
5) Tenn shot 33% from the field and 26% from three

And Purdue only won by 4 points.

Ugh. This worries me. Really hope Purdue plays its best game of the season.

Separately, it’s slightly annoying to see the cupcake of a path to the final four that Duke has ended up with…13 seed, 12 seed, Houston with its All-American guard injured in game, and now an 11 seed.

Who has the advantage if they cancel each other on points scored? I think Purdue starting with Zach guarding the rim.

Check out Boiler Upload's press videos from Detroit today in advance of the Elite Eight game with Tennessee.

I was able to speak with Jack Benter this afternoon after Brownstown Central won the Class 2A State Championship.

Congratulations to Jack Benter: State Champion.

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Congratulations to Jack Benter: State Champion.

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It has been 16,078 days since Purdue’s last game in a Final Four. It defeated Iowa on March 24, 1980 in the now defunct third place game.

Today it can end that drought.

For Purdue fans, those 16,078 days feel like an eternity. As a Cubs fan, I expect the release of a Final Four berth to be just as cathartic as November 2,2016. On that night the seemingly impossible happened. After 108 year the Cubs were finally champions again, and they had to go through a Cleveland team that was (and still is) suffering a historic drought.

It is similar with Purdue and Tennessee. The Volunteers are arguably the best team in college basketball that has never been to a Final Four. Purdue is arguably the best program that has never won a championship, and its Final Four drought is old enough to have its own midlife crisis.

16,078 days.

It is not just that amount of time. It is everything that has happened in that time to prevent that release.

In 1988 it was blowing a Sweet 16 game against a Kansas State team it had blown out earlier that season.

In 1990 it was getting upset as a No. 2 seed by Texas in the second round by Texas.

In 1994 it was Glenn Robinson having an awful game against Duke in the Elite Eight.

In 1996 it was nearly becoming the first 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed before losing to Georgia.

In 1998 it was Stanford and Mark Madsen mugging Brad Miller all night.

In 2000 it was a third loss to Wisconsin in four games that year.

In 2010 it was Robbie Hummel’s knee

In 2011 it was Hummel’s knee again and a red hot VCU team.

Cincinnati and Little Rock in consecutive years didn’t derail teams that were world beaters, but they still stung.

In 2017 it was getting obliterated in the second half by Kansas

In 2018 it was Isaac Haas’ elbow.

In 2019 it was the Virginia Miracle in Louisville.

In 2021, 2022, and 2023 it was the double digit seed narrative as Purdue shot poorly and lost to teams it should have dominated.

There is just so much pain and so many what ifs in those 16,078 days. Everyone has the one that hurts the most. For me, it was 2019. Purdue was literally less than a second away from that release. I remember the ball being batted into the back court and thinking, “Oh my God, we’re going to the Final Four” as Kehei Clark chased it down.

It was the ONLY time that night I allowed myself to think that. The reckoning five seconds later gave me whiplash.

It is that pain that makes tonight so big. We can feel that release is right there. Purdue now gets an opponent it has already defeated this year. Also, for three games in this tournament Purdue has shown that when it is on, it will take an extraordinary effort to beat them.

The Boilermakers can erase 44 years of demons tonight, or it can have yet another painful scar and “what if”, because it feels like the only team that can truly beat Purdue is Purdue itself not playing well. It has lost four times this year, and only once, at Nebraska, did a team really just take it to Purdue and go out and beat them.

Having covered this team for almost 20 years now at various sites I want this so badly for the program of my alma mater. I basically came out of the original Gene Pool during the 1999-2000 season and within 10 years was running a site like this. While it would be a dream to make it to Phoenix, I want it so much more for others.

I want it for all Purdue fans that carry this baggage with me.

I want it for the players that had to endure a year of barbs from the Fairleigh Dickinson loss.

I want to silence all the haters that say Purdue can never do it.

I want it for Matt Painter, so he can break through the ceiling that has eluded him.

I want it for guys like Glenn Robinson, Brad Miller, Brian Cardinal, Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson, Raphael Davis, Carsen Edwards, Isaac Haas, Dakota Mathias, PJ Thompson, Vince Edwards, and so many more that have had to endure these decades of heartbreak on the court.

I want it for my son, who will soon be 11, because I don’t want him to go through life without experiencing what I have as a Purdue fan.

There is one figure I want it for the most.

Gene Keady.

At 87 years old Gene stands like Moses on Mount Nebo, looking out at the Promised Land of the Final Four. He was hired as Purdue’s coach on April 11, 1980, just 18 days after Purdue’s last game in the Final Four, thanks to the departure of Lee Rose. Since then, he has been the face of the program. A few months ago he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame as a lifetime achievement award, but the Final Four has eluded him as the dean of this program.

Some say that the current players don’t know what Gene means to the program. They might say that only the old people care about Keady. None of the current players were alive when he was coaching, so why would they care about winning this game and getting to a Final Four for him?

If that was the case, why was coach Keady at the middle of Keady Court just a few weeks ago to shoot a video of him learning the Sandstorm dance with Lance Jones, a player that had absolutely no association with Purdue whatsoever a year ago at this time?

Gene Keady deserves to see this program reach a Final Four. He hasn’t coached a game in West Lafayette in nearly two decades, but his imprint has still been on this program the entire time because of Matt Painter.

Let’s get there for him.

My aunt can't go.
Mid court, row 11. Not sure what section it is, my sister has them on her phone and she's out.
We bought on secondary market, not cheap, but what we paid.
Transferable via phone. We leave 9am for Detroit.
Text 260 445-4139

Debated a good topic with @DubJellison this week:

How did we miss on this?

Parrish to IU

Sorry…I know it’s a B10 member and taking UConn out would be good for Purdue.

I just can’t do it!! BoilerUP and bring on UConn for the National Championship!

Check out Boiler Upload's press videos from Detroit today in advance of the Elite Eight game with Tennessee.

Here's the early afternoon videos of Purdue and Tennessee.

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Here's the footage form Tennessee's press conference:

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Dalton Knecht in the breakout room:

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I was able to speak with Jack Benter this afternoon after Brownstown Central won the Class 2A State Championship.

will be saying "Tennessee is a much-improved team blah, blah, blah" in 3..2..1.........

Sending Morton in to get 2 fouls to slow the Zags down at the end of the first half then the adjustments made all second half were just brilliant.

I truly was hoping Braden got a triple double though.. ah well SUNDAY HE CAN!!!!

Today at 3pm ET/Noon PT take advantage of True Fan Pricing as our friends at Autograph are dropping some $16 tickets for the Elite 8 in Detroit!

What happens when intangibles don’t get you in the game? When your senior season doesn’t live up to its personal hype?

Morton’s goal remains the same. Do whatever he can to help Matt Painter and Purdue get to the Final Four.