T.M. Selection: Purdue.

I like Purdue to cover the spread against Texas in this game on Sunday. Purdue has looked a lot better in their games lately and I think they can carry over their momentum into this game and get another big win here. They have won 4/5 of their previous 5 games with their only loss coming to Iowa in the Big 10 finals. They weren't playing great near the end of their regular season but they have looked better lately winning more games and I think they have been waiting for this all year. They looked really good in their 1st game of the NCAA tournament with a 20+ point win over Yale and I expect them to dominate Texas in the same way here. Purdue has a really good team and I think they will have no troubles pulling away here if Jaden Ivey stays hot in this game like he was in their previous game. I think Purdue has the ability to make a deep run here and I don't think Texas looked that great in their 1st game anyway. Texas managed to get an 8 point win over Virginia Tech in the round of 64 but Virginia Tech was hanging with them in that game for most of it and it wasn't until near the end that Texas started to pull away in that game. Texas even ended their regular season with 3 losses in a row. They looked really good in a lot of their games against weaker teams but they had a common theme of losing whenever they had to face a ranked team in their conference. Purdue is also a ranked team and they were even ranked 1st in the country for a while during the year. I think Purdue has been waiting for this tournament all year and now that they are here I expect them to turn the jets on and make a deep run. I like Purdue to cover the spread here.

T.M. Prediction: 74-66 Purdue.