On March 17, 2023, during the first round of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the Purdue University (Purdue) Boilermakers played a college basketball game against the Fairleigh Dickinson University (Fairleigh Dickinson, also FDU) Knights at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Boilermakers, who were seeded first in the East regional bracket (and fourth overall) in the NCAA tournament, faced the Knights, who were seeded 16th in the East regional bracket (and 68th, or last, overall).
The Knights defeated the Boilermakers 63–58, becoming the first No. 16 seed out of the First Four to defeat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, and the second 16-seed overall after UMBC's win over Virginia in 2018. It is also just the third time a 16-seed has beaten a 1-seed in college basketball overall, after No. 16 seeded Harvard defeated overall No. 1 Stanford in the women's tournament twenty-five years earlier. As a result, the Knights made it to the round of 32 for the first time in school history and became the first Northeast Conference team to win in the round of 64. With Purdue set as a -point favorite heading into the game, Fairleigh Dickinson's victory was the biggest upset in terms of point spread in NCAA tournament history. Purdue ended their season at 29–6, while Fairleigh Dickinson improved to 21–15.
Background
At the start of this game, NCAA tournament No. 16 seeds were 1–150 all-time against No. 1 seeds since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Five years prior to this game, the UMBC Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed, 74–54, over the Virginia Cavaliers.
Fairleigh Dickinson
Fairleigh Dickinson entered its 2022–23 season under first-year head coach Tobin Anderson. A preseason Northeast Conference (NEC) coaches' poll picked the Knights to finish tied for sixth in their league. The Knights' roster was especially notable for its small physical size—averaging barely over , with two starting guards being under , it was the smallest in NCAA Division I men's basketball that season. In the years since the analytics website kenpom.com began tracking average heights of D-I men's rosters in the 2006–07 season, only one other roster had a shorter average height (Grambling State in 2009–10). The team completed the regular season with a 19–15 record and a second-place finish in the NEC.
As the No. 2 seed in the NEC Tournament, they defeated St. Francis Brooklyn and Saint Francis (PA) to advance to the championship game against Merrimack. Because Merrimack was in the last season of a four-year transition period from Division II to Division I, the Knights received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, despite losing the conference championship game to Merrimack 66–67.
In the First Four, Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Texas Southern 84–61 to advance to the first round. After the game, Anderson said to the team in the locker room, "The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them."
Purdue
Purdue entered its 2022–23 season under 18th-year head coach Matt Painter. Purdue had entered the season unranked but proceeded to win the Big Ten Conference regular season championship outright by three games. Junior center Zach Edey was named the conference's Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year, and a consensus first-team All-American. In the Big Ten Tournament, they defeated Rutgers, Ohio State, and Penn State, winning the tournament and finishing with a regular season record of 29–5. Purdue entered the tournament seeded fourth overall. As a result, Purdue would face the winner of the First Four match between Fairleigh Dickinson and Texas Southern. Fairleigh Dickinson won the game, 84–61, and would move on to face Purdue. Purdue entered the game the heavy favorite to win, favored by 23.5 points.
Venue
The game was played at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The attendance for the game was 19,564.
Broadcast
The game was televised nationally on TNT and announced by Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, and Jamie Erdahl. The game was played before the start of the Florida Atlantic–Memphis game, which took place in the same venue. The game drew 4.37 million viewers.