GoldandBlack.com Saturday Simulcast: Purdue's NCAA destination and spring football talk
In our March 14, 2026 edition, we talk NCAA Tournament with Purdue grad and bracketologist Jerry Palm following the Boilermakers’ impressive 16-point win over Nebraska. Palm, who has been an expert leading into March Madness for 31 years and what scenarios might be ahead for coach Matt Painter’s team. In our final segment, GoldandBlack.com football experts Tom Dienhart and Dub Jellison get everybody up to speed after the first third of coach Barry Odom’s second spring practice ledger. For more on Palm’s Bracketology, click here.
Purdue-Nebraska key takeaway
(Excerpt from Brian Neubert’s post from last night)
ON PHYSICAL TONE-SETTING … AGAIN
Make no mistake here: Northwestern and Nebraska were really favorable matchups for Purdue because they simply could not match Purdue’s size and physicality around the basket. So when you look at the results of these two games as being predictive of things to come, keep that in mind.
Purdue has a really good thing going here in terms of how hard its frontcourt plays and how badly it wants the basketball. That has been an enormous advantage thus far in the Big Ten Tournament, albeit against opponents against whom it should be an advantage.
Purdue got 22 points and 18 rebounds on 10-of-16 shooting from its frontcourt pillars, while playing well defensively and experiencing no foul trouble.
And that says nothing of the toll they took on Nebraska’s and Northwestern’s frontcourts.
But both big guys put together quite a highlight reel tonight of sheer will plays on the glass — whether it was Trey Kaufman-Renn tipping the ball to Braden Smith on an offensive rebound that led to C.J. Cox’s enormous three, or Oscar Cluff repeatedly going over, around or through anyone in his path to get offensive rebounds.
Purdue is a great offensive basketball team — one of the best in the sport — but when it plays with this sort of magnetism to the ball, whether it’s rebounding or playing defense in a disruptive manner, it can be one of the best teams in the country.
