Will this year’s NCAA tournament be deja vu for No. 1 Purdue on Friday when they face No. 16 Grambling State?
As a reminder, Purdue, a No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA tournament, lost to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round.
Grambling State beat Montana State 88–81 in overtime in a First Four matchup Wednesday night. The Tigers erased a 14-point deficit in the second half to take the lead over the Bobcats before the game eventually went into overtime.
This marks Grambling State’s first NCAA tournament appearance in program history, also making Wednesday night the team’s first program win in the tournament.
Since the Tigers are preparing for Friday’s game with no shortage of momentum after the victory over Montana State, some college basketball fans are already loving the idea of Purdue potentially suffering back-to-back upsets.
As much of a longshot as it may be, the No. 16 seed Tigers appear to have plenty of support and belief that they can deliver the same fate to Purdue as Fairleigh Dickinson did last year.
Take a look at some of the social media memes regarding this prediction.
Purdue fans after watching Grambling State advance pic.twitter.com/ij8HPCda3u
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 21, 2024
Watched exactly zero seconds of college basketball this year. Just watched that postgame show. Grambling State is beating Purdue.
— feitelberg (@FeitsBarstool) March 21, 2024
Purdue watching this 16 seed game @BoilerBall pic.twitter.com/lT3Z2qS4Mr
— alphaBrett (@brettwhitely) March 20, 2024
Purdue facing a feisty 16 seed?
— Patrick Clay (@patrickclay_) March 21, 2024
HAMMER the Grambling State ML pic.twitter.com/msgE8YaLwO
*watches one minute of Montana State/Grambling* “It’s over for Purdue”
— Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) March 21, 2024
The postgame studio crew putting Purdue on upset watch 👀
— Jerit Roser (@JeritRoser) March 21, 2024
“This is a tough style of play for Purdue.”
— Adam Lefkoe
“To me, tonight, Grambling State almost looks like a better version of FDU.”
— Seth Davis
Candace Parker praises the Tigers impressive depth. https://t.co/qy3cR5n7EL
Grambling state thinks they are beating Purdue. Wild. This is March
— RCJH (@Kansashoopschat) March 21, 2024
PREDICTION: The No. 16 Grambling State Tigers will upset the No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers on Friday.
— Kalan Hooks (@KalanHookstv) March 21, 2024
Anyone out there not scared enough to pick the Grambling State upset of Purdue?
— Ellie French (@elliefrenchTV) March 21, 2024
