Texas vs Purdue: Cinderella vs Powerhouse

0:00On March 26, the 11th-seated Texas Longhorns take on the second-seated Purdue Boilermakers in the West region semi-finals, Thursday night in San Jose, California. Texas sits at 21 wins and 14 losses, while Purdue boasts 29 wins and 8 losses. This pits the lowest remaining seed against the powerhouse, looking to advance deep once more. Texas caught its way from the first four, upsetting an 11th-seated North Carolina state, in a 6th-seated Brigham Young, and finally a 3rd-seated Gonzaga. Is their first sweet 16 under new coach Chris Miller, marking just a 16, ever to reach this stage from the opening playing games? Purdue has hit the sweet 16 four times in five seasons, including back-to-back trips in a national title game run last year. They started as the preseason number one, but rebounded from a mid-season dip with a six-game winning streak, highlighted by topping Midwest top seed. Michigan, in conference play, standouts include Purdue's Brayden Smith, Fletcher-Loye,

1:03and Trey Kaufman-Ren, each averaging 14 points with massive minutes logged. For Texas, seven-foot sophomore Matas Vokieta-Idis has dominated lately with big scoring and rebounding, though they might miss Guard Jordan Pope-Dew. To an ankle tweak, a Texas victory would echo North Carolina state's final four-push from last year as the second 11th seed in three seasons to hit the regional. Finals, keeping their Cinderella story alive against Purdue's steady climb.