Zach Edey's dominance on the court for Purdue this season was as massive as his 7-4, 295-pound frame. He was the only unanimous first-team All-America and should sweep every national player of the year award.
The East's No. 1 seed Purdue (29-5) has ultimate belief in Edey to carry the program to its first Final Four since 1980 and first ever national championship. But there is skepticism about whether this team can end a Big Ten title drought that dates back to Michigan State's run in 2000.
The Boilermakers were ranked No. 1 for six weeks, but they dropped four of six games in the month of February to create doubt about their dominance.
"I think people just kind of freaked out," Edey told reporters after winning the Big Ten tournament Sunday. "We were having a great season. We had the same guys the entire year. It's not like we lost anyone. Just the shots weren't falling. None of us in our program freaked out."
Eight Big Ten teams are in the NCAA men's tournament this year, tied with the SEC for the most from any conference. It seems clear Purdue has the best chance to make a deep run from the Big Ten other than the league's second-highest seed, No. 4 Indiana.
This is Boilermakers coach Matt Painter's first No. 1-seeded team. He has advanced past the Sweet 16 only once in 14 previous NCAA tournament appearances in his career.
"You get judged on what you do in the tournament," Painter said in Chicago. "We've had a lot of success getting to that second weekend. We haven't had a lot of success getting past that, and that's what we want to do."
The Boilermakers have their first No. 1 seed since 1996, when they were coached by the legendary Gene Keady and were upset by Georgia in the NCAA second round. There have been 11 Big Ten teams with No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament since the Spartans' title in 2000, including four losing in the Sweet 16 or lower.
The last Big Ten team to get to the NCAA championship game was Michigan in 2018, which fell to Villanova. There have been seven Big Ten national runner-up teams since 2000, including Wisconsin as the last No. 1 seed from the conference to get there in 2015 before losing to Duke.
Despite being ranked No. 1 longer than any other team this season, the Boilermakers are the fourth No. 1 seed behind Alabama (overall top seed), defending champion Kansas and Houston, which hosts the Final Four. The earlier losing stretch caused Purdue to drop slightly.
Blue bloods Duke and Kentucky could both be threats to Purdue's title hopes coming out of the East Region. But the bigger concern is probably Purdue itself. Painter's team has a young backcourt and a sometimes inconsistent supporting cast around Edey.
As talented as freshman starting guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer are, they're still understandably going through growing pains. Even in Purdue's two-point win vs. Penn State in the conference tournament final, Smith and Loyer combined for six points on 1-for-14 shooting from the field, including 1-for-8 from three-point range.
"[Edey's] pretty good, but you've got to get people to play with him," Painter said. "Our guys do a good job of having patience and playing through him."
Edey and company are entering the NCAA tournament undefeated in March with five straight wins. The best player in the country is playing his best basketball with more than 30 points and 10 rebounds in the past two games. The Boilermakers will find out soon who can stop Edey — or not — on their journey to end the Big Ten's title drought.
"You want to have that momentum going into the tournament," Edey said. "It's always nice to win games, always nice to cut down nets, and validate all the work you put in."
BIG TEN TEAMS IN THE MEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT
South region
No. 8 Maryland (21-12) vs. No. 9 West Virginia — Thursday 11:15 a.m. (Central)
East region
No. 1 Purdue (29-5) vs. No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson — Friday 5:50 p.m.
No. 7 Michigan State (19-12) vs. No. 10 USC — Friday 11:15 a.m.
Midwest region
No. 4 Indiana (22-11) vs. No. 13 Kent State — Friday 8:55 p.m.
No. 8 Iowa (19-13) vs. No. 9 Auburn — Thursday 5:50 p.m.
No. 10 Penn State (22-13) vs. No. 7 Texas A&M — Thursday 8:55 p.m.
West region
No. 7 Northwestern (21-11) vs. No. 10 Boise State — Thursday 6:35 p.m.
No. 9 Illinois (20-12) vs. No. 8 Arkansas — Thursday 3:30 p.m.
