The Purdue Boilermakers and McNeese Cowboys face off in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Purdue is looking to take advantage of Clemson’s upset and avoid another early tournament loss under head coach Matt Painter while McNeese will look to continue their fairy tale run in head coach Will Wade’s final season with the program. Will Purdue vs McNeese feature another upset?
Below, we will preview this March Madness college basketball game, giving the Purdue vs McNeese overview, trends and our expert pick! Which school will win and keep their hopes of winning the championship trophy alive?
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Purdue vs McNeese Prediction and March Madness Expert Picks
2025 NCAA Tournament
No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers (23-11) vs. No. 12 McNeese Cowboys (28-6)
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Time: 12:10 PM EST
Venue: Amica Mutual Pavilion — Providence, RI
Coverage: CBS
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Purdue vs McNeese March Madness Odds
All college basketball betting odds for Purdue vs McNeese can be found at BetUS Sportsbook.
Moneyline: PUR: (-250) | MCN: (+200)
Point Spread: PUR: -6.5 (-105) | MCN: +6.5 (-115)
Total: 143.5 — Over: (-105) | Under: (-115)
KenPom Rankings | Bracketology
KenPom Rankings are from KenPom.com
| Team | Rk | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT |
| Purdue | 15 | 124.3 (6) | 100.2 (60) | 64.9 (303) |
| McNeese | 58 | 114.4 (63) | 100.1 (59) | 65.6 (278) |
Purdue vs McNeese College Basketball Trends
- Purdue is 3-2 in its last five games.
- McNeese is 5-0 in its last five games.
- Purdue is 10-4 in non-conference play this season.
- McNeese is 9-5 in non-conference play this season.
- Since 2019, Purdue has made the Sweet 16 in every other NCAA Tournament appearance. The Boilermakers made the national championship game last season.
- McNeese’s win over Clemson in the first round was their first NCAA Tournament win in school history.
Purdue vs McNeese Prediction | March Madness Expert Picks
Although they didn’t pull away until late in their first-round win over High Point, Purdue was clearly the better team throughout the game. While they were uncharacteristically bad from the charity stripe and shooting behind the three-point line, they dominated the glass, stayed out of foul trouble, and didn’t turn the ball over. While McNeese will prove a tougher test than High Point, when Purdue plays their game, there aren’t many teams that can match up against them.
Many college basketball fans were stunned not by the win by McNeese, but by how dominant they were in the first half of their win over Clemson. The Cowboys held a 31-13 lead at half thanks to a suffocating zone defense that Clemson couldn’t handle. Although they did get the win, the fact that they gave up 54 points in the second half and only won by two is a concern. Coming off an emotional win and sputtering out late, it’s fair to question if McNeese has enough left in the tank to be able to outplay Purdue for a full 40 minutes.
Purdue makes you beat them, they don’t beat themselves up. While McNeese certainly has the talent to beat them, they won’t have the energy needed to do it over the course of the entire game.
For our Purdue vs McNeese prediction, we are picking the Purdue Boilermakers to win and move on in the NCAA Tournament.
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