I'm happy to see upsets happen, especially when one team clearly outplays the other one.
Do I think this game gets to this point, with B1G referees, calling a game....no, I think there would have been some more fouls given to FDU to aid Purdue along in this game.
There are two major items associated with B1G basketball that ultimately do not help, once these teams leave their conferences for 2.5 months.
A) The pattern of referees is consistent with the same pool of refs, on rotation pretty much all season long. These refs know our league, our league and coaches know these refs......some refs clearly know which teams get the benefit of the whistle and which ones do not (especially RU during their climb out of the bottom 4 of the league).
B) the league does not capture elite guards that can take over a game, dictate tempo and the ones that do, usually stand out among others.
But in terms of embarrassing items. I don't know man....part of it is pure jealousy or hatred, because the B1G is a very popular, well funded (wealthy) league. It's members are now placed in 1st place going forward with revenue. That means when you are on top, others that aren't, always take shots at #1.
If this is the best "embarrassing " item they can come up, tip you hat, laugh at it and move on. I don't see an issue with it, it was a terrible loss.
Do I think this somehow reflects on RU....?? Absolutely not. Purdue dropped these games to North Texas, St Peters and now FDU. I don't see the rest of the B1G sitting around, waiting 12 months for Purdue to somehow redeem themselves and the B1G reputation.
I will say it again, St Peters beat Kentucky and Purdue in last years NCAA.....they played 3 of the best games an underdog could have ever strung together in the history of CBB (in my opinion).
Winning 1 game magically happens 3 to 5 times per year in the NCAAs....St Peters did it 3 times on 1 run. Coach Calipari has won big before and maybe that separates him from Painter, because he won a National Title with a Top 15 player in the NBA the last decade in Anthony Davis.....but his loss to St Peters was just as shocking as it was when Purdue also got beat.
I don't see how the B1G somehow suffers some loss of anything. The checks still will cash and the revenue will still flow. We aren't the Mountain West conference getting 4 teams and really not showing that 3 didn't belong in or seeded as high as they were.
It is why the 1st weekend of the NCAA tournament is the best sports weekend in all of sports. People have thoughts that something is this way, then the facts or reality hits them in the face that maybe it's not quite that simple. After 30 to 40 years of upsets, when does the message register that in a 1 game scenario, anything can happen.
I'm happy for FDU, the coach seems like a grinder, he got his kids to believe that they could win. There's nothing better than that to me, than to see Kennesaw State, Princeton, FDU, this year or UMBC, Lehigh or Oral Roberts in years past, shock the world.
