So very happy!!!!! Purdue jumped out early on McNeese and coasted to a 76-62 victory. Trey Kaufman-Renn was unstoppable in the post as he scored 22 points, but Purdue had a pretty balanced attack as Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith and CJ Cox all had double digits in points.

I do feel a little bad for McNeese – they seemed to enjoy all the attention, but it was ridiculous that their head coach Will Wade signed a contract to coach at NC State before they played their first tournament game against Clemson. So, if you are a Wolfpack fan, you probably should have watched as I would be surprised if a few of the Cowboys’ players won’t be playing at Raleigh next season as they follow their coach. NC State is getting a winning coach (even if I am not a fan of him for the recruiting scandal that got him fired from LSU). But it feels like we should be able to let those conversations not get finalized until after the team has left the tournament and their season is officially over.

Anyways, the Boilermakers victory makes the Big 10 9-0 so far in the tournament, which is an unprecedented start for a conference. Not sure that will translate into a title for one of the 8 Big 10 teams in the tournament, but still an amazing start.

And as Purdue waits to see who they will be playing between #1 Houston and #8 Gonzaga, they know that they will be playing them 1 hour from Mackey Arena down in Indianapolis. Indy is certainly going to be filled with a lot of black and gold shirts next week!!!

It creates a dangerous amount of hope for the Lunatic. Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn are playing incredible basketball and they will get to play for a chance to return to the Final 4 in what will basically be a home court for the Boilers. They certainly wouldn’t be favored against Houston, Tennessee or Kentucky – but with a home court behind them, anything is possible. Hope can be dangerous – because more hope can lead to more heartbreak.

For now, the Lunatic is simply going to be happy that Purdue is continuing to play into the second week of the tournament. I think I am going to celebrate with playing at the local par 3 – since it is gorgeous outside (and honestly, I am not as excited about St. John’s vs. Arkansas as the media is).

Congratulations to my Purdue Boilermakers – BOILER UP!!!!