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The Breakfast Buffet — March Madness Edition

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

The door is open for Purdue
That doesn’t mean that the Boilers aren’t going to have their hands full with Texas on Sunday, but the facts are the facts: Purdue’s road to its first Final Four appearance since 1980 got a lot smoother when St. Peter’s upset Kentucky on Thursday night. If the Boilers can beat Texas on Sunday, they’ll then play the winner of today’s game between Murray State and St. Peter’s to get to the Elite Eight. Just as it’s been all season, it’s Final Four or bust for Purdue.

Gonzaga/Memphis is appointment TV
The NCAA Tournament’s top overall seed squares off with a team whose talent base is comparable to that of a top seed. Gonzaga’s matchup today with Memphis (9:40 PM, TBS) features multiple lottery picks — Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren and Memphis’ Jalen Duren — along with an All-American in Gonzaga’s Drew Timme. The Round of 32 is always a time during the NCAA Tournament where top seeds are truly tested for the first time. That’s what this game is for the Bulldogs.

The Big 12 makes an early statement
Six teams from this conference — Baylor, Kansas, Texas Tech, Texas, TCU, and Iowa State — qualified for the NCAA Tournament. All six are in the Round of 32. The average margin of victory for these six teams in six NCAA Tournament games? 23 points. The Big 12 is again proving that it’s the best league in college basketball.

Ed Cooley is one win away from forever changing his legacy at Providence
I voted Cooley as National Coach of the Year and he’s the only head coach in the history of Providence’s program to win a Big East regular season title, but his legacy will forever reach another level if he can beat Richmond today (6:10 PM ET, TNT) and advance to the Sweet 16. In the last 35 years, there’s been two head coaches at Providence — Rick Pitino and Pete Gillen — who have led the Friars to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Cooley can join them with a win today against the Spiders. Pitino led Providence to the 1987 Final Four while Gillen — a colleague of mine at CBS Sports — took the Friars all the way to the Elite Eight in 1997 before losing to eventual national champion Arizona in the Elite Eight in overtime.

Logan Johnson faces his old coach
The most underrated perimeter defender in the NCAA Tournament will square off today in Portland against the man who a few years ago recruited him to play for Cincinnati. Johnson played one season for Mick Cronin and the Bearcats before Cronin took the UCLA job and Johnson transferred back to California to play for Saint Mary’s. The 6-2 guard has developed into an elite defender under Randy Bennett and a quality all-around player. Johnson is averaging 11.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and two steals entering today’s Round of 32 matchup with the Bruins (7:10 PM ET, TBS).

Leftovers