Just over two decades ago, Purdue coach Matt Painter was the young, newly promoted coach of Southern Illinois. His team ripped off a 25-5 record en route to winning the MVC conference title, but lacked in high-major non-conference opponents; the Salukis were seeded ninth and lost to Alabama in the first round.
Miami-Ohio coach Travis Steele, too, was in charge at Xavier in 2019. His Musketeers padded their schedule, for the most part, with shoddy mid-majors—nearby sub-.500 teams like Evansville, Eastern Kentucky and Detroit, to name a few.
