Purdue students did not know how to act ahead of the college basketball national championship on Monday night. The Boilermakers pulled the ultimate “little brother move” prior to their loss to UConn.
It was embarrassing.
For those who don’t know, Purdue University is located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As a result, Indiana University is the school’s biggest rival. And vice versa.
The Hoosiers and the Boilermakers do not get along. They hate each other.
Their feelings toward their in-state rivals were made abundantly clear on Monday night when students who did not make the trip to Phoenix (Glendale) for the Final Four packed into Mackey Arena on campus to watch the game together. To their credit, they created an electric home environment for an away game they were watching on TV.
However, their focus should have been entirely on the Huskies. Every single fiber in their bodies should have been raging with hate toward the opponent in front of them. Dan Hurley should have been public enemy No. 1, with Donovan Clingan a close No. 2.
That was not the case.
Purdue students were more concerned with Indiana— on the night of the national championship. They chanted “I-U Sucks” with just minutes until tipoff of the biggest sporting event of their lives.
The Hoosiers were living rent-free in their heads. It was so lame.
Now, to the credit of the Boilermakers — they had never been in that position before. Playing for a national title as a 1-seed in March Madness is new to them. They don’t know how to act!
Unfortunately, that does not excuse the embarrassment of a chant that focused on a rival that did not even make the NCAA Tournament instead of the reigning national champions. That’s a little brother move. A “UConn sucks” chant would have been the better choice and far less humiliating…