Purdue Continues to Slide in Latest NCAA Bracket Projection
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Before the 2025-26 season tipped off, Purdue was penciled in as a strong candidate to have the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament. Now, as February approaches, the Boilermakers are 17-4 on the season and are trying to keep themselves in position to earn a top-four seed for March Madness.
After suffering a third straight loss on Tuesday, college basketball and bracket analyst Michael DeCourcy has Purdue listed as a four-seed in his latest projection, which was released on Friday.
DeCourcy has Purdue as the No. 4 seed in the East Region. That No. 1 seed in that region is currently UConn. It would mean that, should the Boilermakers reach the Sweet 16, they would travel to Washington, D.C.
Here's a look at the full East Region bracket per DeCourcy's latest projections:
East Region
- No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 Vermont/Maryland-Eastern Shore
- No. 8 Miami (Ohio) vs. No. 9 USC
- No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 Troy
- No. 5 Florida vs. No. 12 Yaloe
- No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 UT-Arlington
- No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 11 George Mason/Virginia Tech
- No. 7 SMU vs. No. 10 Georgia
- No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Winthrop
Purdue can still bounce back
Most programs would be celebrating a projection as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But Purdue has ambitions of reaching the Final Four and winning a national championship. It would like to put itself in the best shape possible to accomplish those goals.
The Boilermakers sit 17-4 on the season and are 7-3 in Big Ten play. It's been a disappointing stretch for Purdue, especially after winning the first seven games in the league. Consecutive losses to UCLA, Illinois and Indiana have been setbacks over the last two weeks.
But there's good news for Purdue: it still has plenty of opportunities to add quality wins to its resumé.
With 10 games to play, Purdue still has matchups against No. 5 Nebraska (Feb. 10), Iowa (Feb. 14), No. 3 Michigan (Feb. 17), No. 7 Michigan State (Feb. 26) and Wisconsin (March 7). It can really bolster its
resumé and climb up the seed lines in the final month of the season.
First, though, the Boilermakers simply need to get back into the win column. Their next opportunity comes on Sunday, traveling to College Park to play Maryland. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET and the game will air on CBS.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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