Purdue vs. Saint Peter’s March Madness Odds: Will Matt Painter’s Sweet 16 Woes Continue vs. Peacocks?

Purdue vs. Saint Peter's Odds

Matt Painter is one of the best college basketball coaches in the country.

Painter's resume is vast and profound. Painter has 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, six Sweet 16 appearances and three Big Ten titles during his time at Purdue. He's won Big Ten Coach of the Year three different times and National Coach of the Year once.

But there's one thing lacking on his resume, and it's a gaping hole. Painter has never been to the Final Four. Not only that, but he has only been to one Elite Eight.

The buck tends to stop in the Sweet 16 for Painter. He is 1-4 straight-up (SU) in five third-round appearances and 1-4 against the spread (ATS). Painter finally got over the hump in 2019 when his Boilermakers beat Tennessee 99-94 as a 1.5-point underdog.

The only other time the Boilermakers have been favored in the Sweet 16 was against Texas Tech in 2018. Purdue was favored by two points and lost by 15. It was only a five-point underdog to Kansas in 2017 when they lost by 32.

You get the point by now. Purdue has struggled mightily in the Sweet 16, both SU and ATS.

This team could be the most well-equipped to make a Final Four run in Painter's tenure. The Boilermakers earned the No. 1 ranking in the country in the AP Poll for the first time in school history back in December.

Purdue has spent the season between 20-1 and 7-1 to win the National Championship on various sportsbooks.

The Boilermakers are a 12.5-point favorites over the Saint Peter's Peacocks on Friday night. That number against the Peacocks would have been higher before the tournament. Can Purdue bucks its own trends and end Saint Peter's magical run? We'll find out on Friday night.