Purdue sneaked on the list of 16 teams that CBS Sports thinks can win the NCAA tournament. There's nothing really new to us in the write-up, but it's nice to see the top end potential of this team recognized by a national writer without a rooting interest. Below is the Purdue section, and here is a link to the full article: https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...shot-at-the-ncaa-tournament-title-into-tiers/
Breakdown: Generally speaking, unless you're Kansas, Kentucky, Duke or UNC, it's hard to lose a Player of the Year candidate and return as a national championship contender. (Villanova, however, is making it look natural.) Yet here we have Purdue rounding out the list despite not having Caleb Swanigan, who was world-beatingly superb last season. Matt Painter's team is the second best in the Big Ten in my eyes thanks to Vincent Edwards and Carsen Edwards set to fly and push this team to another stellar season. The oak tree in the middle, 7-2 Isaac Haas, can't be ignored. Dakota Mathias might play himself into being a top-10 3-point shooter. The wild-card aspect is not having Swanigan. Purdue was borderline national-championship caliber last season with him, and now he's gone. But this group is older, and Painter has a great coaching knack about him. If anything, he's underrated at this point in his career and I do not use that term lightly.
Stat to know: You might think Purdue is mostly muscle and mid-range, but the Boilemakers ranked seventh nationally in 3-point percentage last season (40.3), and most sharpshooters return.
Breakdown: Generally speaking, unless you're Kansas, Kentucky, Duke or UNC, it's hard to lose a Player of the Year candidate and return as a national championship contender. (Villanova, however, is making it look natural.) Yet here we have Purdue rounding out the list despite not having Caleb Swanigan, who was world-beatingly superb last season. Matt Painter's team is the second best in the Big Ten in my eyes thanks to Vincent Edwards and Carsen Edwards set to fly and push this team to another stellar season. The oak tree in the middle, 7-2 Isaac Haas, can't be ignored. Dakota Mathias might play himself into being a top-10 3-point shooter. The wild-card aspect is not having Swanigan. Purdue was borderline national-championship caliber last season with him, and now he's gone. But this group is older, and Painter has a great coaching knack about him. If anything, he's underrated at this point in his career and I do not use that term lightly.
Stat to know: You might think Purdue is mostly muscle and mid-range, but the Boilemakers ranked seventh nationally in 3-point percentage last season (40.3), and most sharpshooters return.
