The NCAA Tournament has rules in place to increase the odds that the very best teams, those that have earned No. 1 seeds by being dominant during the regular season, are able to make the Final Four and compete for a championship.
They get the "easiest" matchup in the first round, and then no better than a No. 8 seed in the second round. They are given the first choice of where to play their opening two games and receive "geographic consideration" when being placed into a region.
That is what happened to the Purdue Boilermakers last season. They opened the tournament in nearby Indianapolis, then played the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight in Detroit, Michigan. Their opponents had to come from Washington State, Nebraska, and Tennessee - thus Purdue fans were more easily able to attend and root for their team, the team didn't have to travel far, etc. It certainly worked for Purdue, as they won both games to advance to the Final Four.
This season, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Bracket is the Houston Cougars, who had a truly dominant season in the Big 12. Their reward? The NCAA Selection Committee essentially did everything possible to screw them over, including giving this year's Purdue Boilermakers a golden path to the Final Four.
Purdue is playing a home game in the Sweet 16
While not technically a home game, Purdue is playing their Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games in their own backyard. The Midwest Regional is in Indianapolis, Indiana this year, which lies just 60 miles from Purdue's campus in West LaFayette. More Purdue fans live in Indianapolis than likely anywhere else in the entire country.
What's more, 11 players on the Purdue roster as from the state of Indiana. It's not just a home game for the university, it's a home game for the vast majority of the roster.
Starters Caleb Furst and Fletcher Loyer are from Fort Wayne. All-American point guard Braden Smith hails from Westfield, Indiana, a suburb of Indy. Breakout star Trey Kaufman-Renn is from Sellersburg. Myles Colvin is from Indianapolis itself.
If the traffic isn't bad, you can get from Purdue's campus to Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of the Midwest Regional Final, in about 50 minutes. Add a few minutes if you stop for a BPT. To get from Houston's campus to Lucas Oil, on the other hand, will take you 15 hours and 30 minutes - a 1,016-mile trip.
It's not only Purdue that is given a better placement than the Cougars. The Kentucky Wildcats only have to travel three hours. The Tennessee Volunteers about 5.5 hours. Obviously, these teams are likely flying, but for their fans the distance matters. Houston's fans will be hard-pressed to beat out the hometown Purdue fans.
If Purdue can knock off the Cougars, then they get an SEC opponent who has a spotty recent NCAA track record and no one who has been here before. Purdue was just in the national title game, and they have an experienced head coach. They will have an advantage on multiple levels.
The Cougars are correctly favored against the Boilermakers; they have been the better team all season long. It is a difficult thing to quantify an advantage like Purdue is receiving. If they pull off the upset, however, we may look back and realize we should have seen it coming.
The NCAA Tournament Committee has served up the Final Four on a silver platter. Now Purdue just needs to reach out and take it.