Purdue Boilermakers Office Pool Strategy, Pick, Odds - 2019 March Madness

When making your March Madness office pool picks, consider the teams carefully.  The Purdue Boilermakers, for example, will most certainly make it past the first day versus Old Dominion.  They are a -12 favorite in their first game of the Madness.

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Why They Go Deep

ESPN.com: "Matt Painter emerged as a trendy national coach of the year favorite as he steered a Purdue squad that had lost a talented senior class to a slice of this season's title in the Big Ten, the consensus top conference in the country. The Boilermakers led the Big Ten in 3-point shooting and Carsen Edwards solidified himself as a Wooden Award candidate after averaging 23.5 PPG. But Edwards' 11-for-48 clip in a pair of losses to Minnesota in a recent 10-day stretch showcased Purdue's limits when its best player struggles."

"The Boilermakers' recipe for success is threefold: the trusty 3-point aim of Edwards and Cline, the nightly commitment to playing hard and sticking to their clearly defined roles, and the deft coaching of Painter. The Boilermakers take excellent care of the ball and win more than their fair share of the effort plays that ultimately tilt games in a team's favor. One example of this is that Purdue finished 18th nationally with an offensive rebound percentage of 35 percent, and those second chances often result in easy putbacks."

Purdue does have a better rating on Sagarin.  In fact, the Boilermakers are rated 10th at 89.66, that's a whole two points better than Villanova, 5.5 points better than Saint Mary's.  

They did beat a Michigan State team that many believe will make the Final Four.

The Boilermakers are 1-5 Against The Spread in their last 6 games vs. a team with a winning Straight Up record, increasing the likelihood they will advance past Old Dominion at least.

Why Be Concerned

They were a Sweet 16 team last year, but they'll have to get past Saint Mary's or Villanova to get there.  This team can effectively score from all three levels -- in the paint, in the midrange, and from beyond the 3-point arc, ESPN noted.

They add that, teams living by the 3-ball sometimes "write their obituary sooner than they'd like when the long-distance shots aren't dropping".

Purdue has only covered the spread in four of their last ten games.  During that span, they won seven.  Losses came to Minnesota twice, for whatever reason.  They also lost in Maryland. 

Who They Will Play

Old Dominion then they will face either Saint Mary's or Villanova.

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com