Grambling State faces longer odds to upset No. 1 Purdue than Fairleigh Dickinson did

On Wednesday night, Purdue learned which 16 seed it’s going to have to be fully prepared for this year.

As No. 16 Grambling State got a First Four victory over fellow No. 16 Montana State, the Tigers set their sights on being the second-straight 16 seed to potentially beat Purdie in the first round of the men’s NCAA tournament.

As you’ll recall, Purdue became the second-ever one seed to lose to a 16 seed last year when the Boilermakers got upset by Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round of the tournament.

Now, Grambling State will try to match what Fairleigh Dickinson accomplished last year by knocking off a top-seeded Purdue in the tournament.

Particularly after losing as the top seed in the Big 10 tournament over the weekend, the Boilermakers will have to be on their A-game.

At the least, oddsmakers think Purdue has a great chance at redeeming itself. The team has a -25.5 opening advantage with sportsbooks right now in this first-round game, similar to last year’s -23.5 odds the team had against Fairleigh Dickinson last March.

The sportsbooks favor Purdue a bit more this year than last year. However, it’s not impossible to imagine Purdue losing again, which should make this a must-watch game.

Make no mistake: faltering again as a top seed would be the kind of March Madness disaster that might prevent the selection committee from giving Purdue that kind of seeding in future tournaments just on principle alone.