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They say every year is the best year yet, but this bracket is truly special (and truly busted). This is why March is awesome. Name another sport where an upset like this happens? The excitement, the confusion, all of the emotions, it's truly indescribable. One of the best teams with the best players falls to a small school in New Jersey. This arguably is the biggest upset in College Hoops history, and with that, no more perfect brackets.
So which feat is more surprising? FDU winning the damn thing, or Purdue falling in the first round?
So let's give our roses to the winner first. Fairleigh Dickinson University. A school many of us mocked, because one, their in the NEC, and two, they weren't even supposed to be in the tournament.
Hand up, I was a doubter. I said if you can't win your own conference tourney, what right do you have dancing on the big stage? Yet, they did the unthinkable, and Head Coach Tobin Anderson avoided being OldTakesExposed and put his nuts on the table.
Now, over to our loser. What went wrong? Was it Painter's coaching? Was it thinking they could cruise past the first round? Were they just a fraudulent 1 seed? Purdue had high expectations entering the 2023 tournament after winning the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles. It was enough to earn the fourth No. 1 seed in the field. They faulted at the three point line and were simply outplayed.
It was a David and Goliath situation, the spread of the matchup was a whopping 23.5 points. When you look at these numbers, you'll even be more surprised by this game.
NET Ranking
Purdue: 5
FDU: 300
Overall KenPom Ranking
Purdue: 5
FDU: 298
Average Height KenPom Ranking
Purdue: 1
FDU: 363
Operating Expenses
Purdue: $2.3M
FDU: $166K
One Seed vs. Sixteen Seed First Round Records
1 Seed: 150 Wins
16 Seed: 2 Wins
All said and done, you have to tip the cap at the Knights, and scratch your heads at the Boilermakers. Both feats are truly "wild", so you decide. Which feat is more surprising?
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