Where Purdue Basketball is Seeded in Media Mock Bracket

The media mock bracket for the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament came out on Thursday night. Purdue received a favorable seed with a 21-5 record.

Purdue Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer (2) reacts to making a three-point shot. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Once again, Purdue appears to be putting itself in a favorable position for the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. On Thursday, the media mock bracket was released, providing some insight as to where the Boilermakers may land when March Madness rolls around in a few weeks.

Purdue is listed as a No. 2 seed in the West Region (San Jose, Calif.) in the media mock bracket. This projection has the Boilermakers playing No. 15 seed Siena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The predicted location is Buffalo.

Should Purdue win its first-round matchup against Siena, it would play the winner of No. 7 Villanova and No. 10 Auburn in the second round. The No. 1 seed in Purdue's projected bracket is Arizona.

Here's a complete look at the West Region, per the media's mock bracket:

• No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 16 LIU
• No. 8 Utah State vs. No. 9 Saint Mary's

• No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 Liberty
• No. 4 Michigan State vs. No. 13 UNC-Wilmington

• No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Akron
• No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Cal Baptist

• No. 7 Villanova vs. No. 10 Auburn
• No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Siena

Is a No. 1 seed still in play for Purdue?

Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) passes the ball away from Michigan Wolverines forward Morez Johnson Jr. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Many people thought Purdue had a chance to get back to the No. 1 seed line with a win over top-ranked Michigan on Tuesday. The Boilermakers fell short, losing 91-80 to the Wolverines.

Even with the loss, though, Purdue is 21-5 on the season and 11-4 in Big Ten play with five games remaining. There's still plenty of meat left on the schedule, too, with games against Indiana, No. 15 Michigan State, Ohio State, Northwestern, and No. 24 Wisconsin.

If Purdue wins out and finishes 26-5, it will put itself in the conversation to have a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers are competing with the likes of Houston, Arizona, UConn, Iowa State, Kansas, and Illinois for a potential top seed.

In other words, there's still a lot of basketball to play and Purdue is in really good shape heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

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