Boilermakers Nab Midwest Region’s Top Seed; Will Play in Indianapolis on Friday
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After winning its second straight outright Big Ten regular-season championship and posting a 29-4 overall record, the Purdue men’s basketball team earned the Midwest Region’s No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Purdue will face the winner of Wednesday’s First Four matchup between 16 seeds Grambling and Montana State, in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 7:25 p.m. ET, on Friday night, on TBS.
The Boilermakers are making their ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the fourth-longest streak in the country, and are one of two teams to be a top-five seed in each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments (Kansas). Since Matt Painter’s second year at Purdue (2006-07), Purdue is one of seven schools to make at least 15 NCAA Tournament appearances.
Purdue earned its second straight No. 1 seed and its fifth in school history (1988, 1994, 1996, 2023, 2024).
Grambling earned the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s (SWAC) automatic bid after beating a regular-season opponent for the Boilermakers, Texas Southern, 75-66, in the title game. The Tigers are 20-14 overall and also won the league’s regular-season title.
Montana State won the Big Sky Tournament after defeating the league’s top-two teams (Eastern Washington and Montana) in the conference tournament. The Bobcats are 17-17 overall and rank 45th nationally in effective field goal percentage and 43rd in 3-point percentage.
Purdue owns a 1-0 series advantage against Grambling (Nov. 2014) and are 2-1 all-time against Montana State, last facing the Bobcats in December 1959.
The other side of the bracket features No. 8 seed Utah State and No. 9 seed TCU.