Tournament Time Snow edition
A few notes to open NCAA Tournament week.
Support for this edition comes from Rat Pak Venue in downtown Lafayette, presenting Afroman at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 24. The OG Afroman returns to Lafayette performing his hits like “Because I Got High”, “Crazy Rap (Colt 45)” and “Lemon Pound Cake.” And he’s bringing along his friends Graet Daeg and Bank Boi Money. Pre-sale tickets are available for $40. Limited table reservations available for purchase, also. Get tickets here. Discount code: thanks.
Support for Based in Lafayette also comes from Purdue Convocations, presenting Soul Asylum Acoustic w/ Corey Glover (Living Colour) on Friday, April 10. Spend an evening with legendary alternative rock band Soul Asylum, known for iconic hits like “Runaway Train.” In this rare acoustic performance featuring Dave Pirner and Ryan Smith, the artists revisit songs from across their multi-platinum catalog. The night opens with Corey Glover — powerhouse vocalist of Living Colour — bringing his soulful voice and rock legacy to the stage. Don’t miss this intimate night of music—BUY TICKETS today!
Let’s hear it for that Tournament Time Snow this morning. Or maybe, let’s not. Let’s just relish the start of NCAA Tournament week.
Purdue’s run to a Big Ten Tournament championship, shaking off the funk of the back half of the conference schedule to beat No. 1 seed Michigan Sunday, shored up a No. 2 slot in the NCAA Tournament. Does it have you penciling them into the Final Four … or better?
Here’s the men’s tournament bracket to check, print and fill out.
About that win over Michigan, a favorite to win the national title, on Sunday, J&C’s Sam King had this context about a four-game run in Chicago by “the team no one could trust, the one that had fallen far short of expectations:” “Purdue didn’t just beat Michigan, the Boilermakers put together their best performance of the season. In doing so, the Boilers showed they’re capable of beating anyone.” Read more here: “With Big Ten title in hand, Purdue basketball showed us its true self.”
Brian Neubert, reporting for Gold and Black, wrote: “Peaking at the right time, Purdue dominated the second half Sunday against mighty Michigan to win the second Big Ten Tournament title of its seniors’ careers with the Boilermakers, giving them distinct momentum heading into the most important games of the season in the NCAA Tournament. … This was the best basketball of Purdue’s season, and the elements that betrayed the Boilermakers at times during an up-and-down regular season were both solved and sustained over the course of four games in four days.” Read more here: “Takeaways: Senior leadership, frontcourt dominance and more from Purdue’s win over Michigan.”
And I liked this account from Scott Dochterman, writing in The Athletic, diving into Braden Smith on the cusp of the all-time career assists record – one more to tie, two to pass Bobby Hurley’s record with Duke three decades ago – and more: “Purdue won with the style that suits it best. It led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, and that ruthless efficiency was on display all game against Michigan. The Boilermakers had 21 assists and only two turnovers, and in one critical second-half stretch, they hit eight straight shots. A ripped jersey forced Smith to shift from No. 3 to No. 41, but there was no difference in his effectiveness.” Here’s the rest: “Braden Smith, Purdue cap brilliant run through Big Ten tourney with upset of Michigan.”
I have been able to shake that “… from Queens comes Kings” line that opens Run-DMC’s “Raising Hell” ever since Purdue’s opening round matchup was announced. Turns out this Queens isn’t from a Borough but from North Carolina. I didn’t know, and neither apparently did Oscar Cluff (via this locker room interview with WISH-TV’s Angela Moryan). They’re still Royals. Here’s more about the No. 15 seed from the ASUN Conference, via J&C reporter Sam King: “What to know about Queens.”
Purdue, with the No. 2 seed in the West bracket, plays its opening round game about the time most of us have already crumpled the printout of our bracket picks and retrieved them from the trash and smoothed them back out at least twice. The Boilers are scheduled to tip at 7:35 p.m. Friday, on the second day of full tournament play. Here’s the full schedule for the opening rounds of the tournament.
As for every other team in the tournament, here’s something that might help as you fill out that bracket, via The Athletic: “March Madness bracket prep 2026: Strengths, weaknesses, previews for all 68 teams.”
The women’s NCAA Tournament bracket is out, too. Anyone picking a champ not named UConn or UCLA?
THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …
One of six crew members of a KC-135 refueling aircraft killed in a crash last week while supporting operations against Iran, was a Purdue graduate. Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, is a Mooresville native who graduated from Purdue with a degree in aviation operations in 2011, according to his bio from the U.S. Air Force. Now a resident of Stoutsville, Ohio, Koval was an aircraft commander with the 121st Air Refueling Wing out of Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, according to the Ohio National Guard. Koval had more than 2,000 flight hours, including 443 in combat, according to the Ohio National Guard. Koval’s wife, Heather, posted this in a statement Saturday: “Seth was exceptional in everything he did. He was truly the most amazing husband, father, son, brother, friend, and Airman. He loved what he did, and he was proud to put his uniform on and serve others. He grew up dreaming about becoming a pilot and to stand beside him as he made his dreams come true was an honor.”
New show alert: Judy Collins’ farewell tour will include a Nov. 1 stop at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. Tickets for the singer who made Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” a hit in the ‘70s and was central to folk’s presence through the ‘60s – not to mention being the namesake in Crosby, Still and Nash’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” – go on sale Friday, with pre-sale tickets starting Tuesday, available at longpac.org/events.
Thanks, again, for support for this edition from Rat Pak Venue in downtown Lafayette, presenting Afroman at 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 24. Get tickets here. Discount code: thanks.
And thanks for support from Purdue Convocations, presenting Soul Asylum Acoustic w/ Corey Glover (Living Colour) on Friday, April 10. Get tickets here.
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here. Bonus: Now through Friday …
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
Not only did Clark Kellogg pick Purdue to win the National Championship but also Jon Rothstein a CBS Sports College Basketball Reporter. He was on CBS this morning with his predictions.