March Madness: Can Vols handle Matt Painter seeing them as final obstacle?

In the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter will view the Tennessee Volunteers as a final March Madness obstacle.

The Final Four is Tennessee basketball’s final March Madness obstacle. It’s something they’ve never reached, as they have only made one Elite Eight: back in 2010. Rick Barnes, who has made it that far, though, even has a higher obstacle: the national championship.

But the Purdue Boilermakers will have a more direct NCAA Tournament obstacle when the two face off in the Sweet 16 on Thursday: reaching the Elite Eight. This obstacle is one facing head coach Matt Painter specifically.

In his 14 years with the program, Painter has never made the Elite Eight. He has made five Sweet 16 appearances, and this year is his third straight. But in the previous four, he got bounced out. Now, to be fair, the Boilermakers were a No. 4 seed facing a No. 1 seed the first three times.

However, last year, with a veteran team, they were a No. 2 seed and lost by 13 to the No. 3 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders. So Painter has been stuck in the Sweet 16 his entire career. He’ll want to finally get over that hump Thursday, which Barnes and Tennessee basketball as a program have both gotten over in the past separately.

Purdue has a stronger overall history as a program than the Vols. They have made two Final Four appearances and one national championship game appearance. But ever since the program built its identity under Gene Keady, the head coach who mentored Painter and whom Painter succeeded, deep March Madness success has been rare.

In 25 years at Purdue before Painter, Keady only made it to the Sweet 16 or further five times. He did make the Elite Eight twice. But he made no Final Fours, and these aren’t good numbers considering the fact that he won six Big Ten championships and made the Big Dance 17 times.

Add in Painters three championships along with a conference tournament championship, and in the last 39 seasons, Purdue has had 10 in which they won a Big Ten Championship and 28 in which the made the NCAA Tournament. But they got to no Final Fours and only  two Elite Eights. Their last Elite Eight was in 2000 anyway.

With those curses, the Vols will be dealing with a very hungry team trying to get over a major hump Thursday night. Purdue fits into the mold that defense does not win championships but in fact flames out in March Madness before it can go all the way.

Rocky Top, as a result, will be dealing with a Purdue team giving its all, desperate to end it. And this is why it could be a very dangerous game for the Vols. When it comes to Purdue, everything is coming down to this game. The monkey off their back is winning the Sweet 16 matchup.

Tennessee basketball, on the other hand, is thinking about the next game as well, because for them and their veteran team, the Final Four is the ultimate hump to get over. That means Painter and Purdue could put much more into this game than Rick Barnes’s team, and they need to be ready. Otherwise, that Final Four drought as a program continues.