At least Michigan basketball isn’t the Purdue Boilermakers

Yes, the 2022-23 season has been massively disappointing for Michigan basketball. Losing the final three games of the season — two in the regular season as well as the first game of the Big Ten Tournament — and thus missing the NCAA Tournament is certainly a whimper. Playing in the NIT when you have higher expectations is no prize.

But at least Michigan basketball isn’t Purdue.

In case you missed it, and you surely haven’t, Purdue — the Big Ten regular season champions and Big Ten Tournament champions — were the second-ever 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed, with Fairleigh Dickinson pulling off the stunning upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. While the first-ever 1-seed to go down, Virginia, will certainly live in infamy, that Purdue has put themselves in such a disgraceful situation, it’s something that the Boilermakers will never live down.

Of course, it’s one thing to play in the tournament, something Michigan didn’t afford itself a chance to do. But regardless of not playing, being a 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed is a level of embarrassment that cannot be matched. Certainly, many won’t care that their brackets have been instantaneously busted given the sheer entertainment value of the situation. The Boilermakers now have the honor of being the NCAA’s laughingstock.

Playing in the NIT, as Michigan is, isn’t much to be proud of, honestly. It’ll receive its fair share of scorn from one rival (MSU, as Ohio State missed both tournaments). But nothing compares to this.

Enjoy your moment in the spotlight Purdue, you’ve earned it?