CHICAGO ― Purdue basketball is off to St. Louis
Its first-round opponent in the 2026 NCAA Tournament is Queens.
The Boilermakers (27-8) overcame a 6-7 record over their final 13 regular season games to advance to Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament championship where they beat Michigan. That run helped secure a No. 2 seed for Purdue in the West region.
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It sets up a Friday battle against the No. 15 seed Queens (21-13), champions of the ASUN Conference.
The winner faces either No. 7 seed Miami or No. 10 seed Missouri on Sunday.
Purdue basketball in the NCAA Tournament under Matt Painter
Purdue has been vulnerable when facing double digit seeds in the NCAA Tournament, but has reversed course the last two years, falling to No. 1 seed UConn in the 2024 national title game and to No. 1 seed Houston in last season’s Sweet 16.
Prior to that, Purdue lost to No. 13 seed North Texas in 2021, No. 15 seed St. Peter’s (in the Sweet 16) in 2022 and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023.
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Purdue, appearing in March Madness for the 11th straight time, is 24-16 in the NCAA Tournament under head coach Matt Painter.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue basketball learns NCAA Tournament draw for March Madness