A longer list than you’d think.
As Purdue prepares to play #1 seed Houston in Indianapolis on Friday night and possibly into Saturday morning, I thought it was worth it to take a look back at Matt Painter’s history in facing #1 seeds during his tenure at Purdue. Now, we know that Purdue has a reputation for losing to double digit seeds, and yes those losses happened we can’t pretend otherwise, but that just shows the amount of regular season success Purdue has had under Matt Painter. Only one team wins the damn tournament every year and it’s called March Madness for a reason. There are, generally, a lot of upsets. It’s the nature of a win or go home tournament like this. Purdue has also played more than their fair share of #1 seeds though throughout Matt Painter’s 20 year tenure. Let’s take a look and see the unfortunate results.
2007 – #1 Florida 74 – #9 Purdue 67
Purdue’s first time facing a #1 seed under Matt Painter came against defending National Champion Florida. This was the team that returned the exact same starting five from their prior championship team. Purdue was undoubtedly up against the wall in this one. The Florida starting five was Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey, Al Horford, Taurean Green. That’s a very good team. Purdue actually came the closest to beating this team losing by just 7 points.
2009 – #1 UConn 72 – #5 Purdue 60
Purdue outperformed their seed here as they took down 4th seeded Washington in the second round to make it to face UConn. This was another loaded team that included A.J. Price, Kemba Walker, and Hasheem Thabeet. UConn would take down the Boilermakers on their way to the Final Four where they would lose to Michigan State.
2010 – #1 Duke 70 – #4 Purdue 57
This was my final year at Purdue as I was finishing up my Master’s Degree. Purdue had made the Sweet 16 on the back of an overtime layup from Christ Kramer that sent them past Texas A&M in overtime. It was a thrilling game.
Purdue would then head to Houston to take on the Blue Devils in a game that ultimately was not close. I traveled down to Houston with my friend Thomas and three other guys all in one car. A 17 hour drive just to see Purdue get beat. It was the first Sweet 16 I went to but wouldn’t be the last. Duke would end up winning the whole thing in a game against Butler in Indianapolis that I also attended. You may best remember that game for the failed buzzer beater attempt by Butler. Hell of a finish.
2017 – #1 Kansas 98 – #4 Purdue 66
The less said about this game the better as Purdue was out of it early and didn’t make it much of a contest. Purdue had taken down Vermont and Iowa State to get to the Sweet 16 but that was the end of the road. This Kansas team would be taken down in the Elite Eight by double digits against Oregon.
2019 – #1 Virginia 80 – #3 Purdue 75 OT
I really don’t think I need to explain anything about this game. I remember watching this with my wife in our apartment in Maryland and thinking it was over in regulation when Purdue went to the foul line, then my wife yelled “WE’RE GOING TO THE FINAL FOUR!” before the game was over. I told her to zip it and it all went downhill from there. So yes, my wife is to blame for the most ridiculous comeback that’s ever happened and the lucky bounces that Virginia got. We all know that Virginia went on to win the National Championship this season.
2024 – #1 UConn 75 – #1 Purdue 60
This is the latest example of a Purdue team facing a #1 seed and it was while Purdue was also a #1 seed. In Purdue’s first trip to the Final Four since 1980 and their first trip to the National Championship game since 1969 they ran into a buzzsaw of a UConn team that took it to them early and often. Purdue seemingly had a chance at halftime but ultimately it wasn’t as close as the final score showed. It was still an amazing feat to get to the National Championship game, but it was another example of Purdue falling to a #1 seed.
2025 – #1 Houston vs. #4 Purdue
What will happen on Friday? No one knows, but Purdue heads into Indianapolis as a 7.5 point underdog. The vast majority of pundits have picked against Purdue and for those that have reseeded the tournament they are placing Purdue near the very bottom of the remaining 16 teams. However, pundits don’t play the games. The players play the games and Purdue will have an incredible cast out there on the floor on Friday. Can they do what no Matt Painter team has ever done in March and take down a #1 seed? Only time will tell. But perhaps you can take solace in the fact that despite being 0-6 against #1 seeds during his time at Purdue, those six teams, four of them went on to win the National Championship. So, smart money says if Houston beats Purdue they are destined to win it all, so put all your money on them. (Don’t actully do this.) Purdue will get a chance to break this streak Friday at 10:09 PM in Lucas Oil Stadium. Hammer and Rails will have complete coverage of the action so keep your browser right here.