Sweet 16 Preview: #2 Purdue vs. #11 Texas
Mar 21, 2026; Portland, OR, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Camden Heide (5) celebrates with teammates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images #11 Texas, with its giant sports budget and huge student population, might be the closest thing to a Cinderella this tournament has left after knocking off #3 seed Gonzaga in the round of 32. It’s the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
For #2 Purdue, it’s not something new to find a double-digit seed in the Sweet 16, but it’ll hope for a better ending this time. Purdue is looking for its second Elite Eight in the past three seasons. Texas is a dangerous offensive team, despite lacking elite qualities on that side of the ball.
Texas also features a familiar name with a former Purdue player who transferred to the Longhorns this offseason. Let’s take a look at the Thursday night matchup from San Jose. Well this is awkward Cam Heide left Purdue after a successful three years at Purdue that saw him play in the National Title game and nearly hit a similar shot to the one he just hit against Gonzaga for the Boilers when it almost knocked off Houston in last year’s Sweet 16.
Presumably, Heide left Purdue for a larger role after coming off the bench for most his career and being relegated to a catch and shoot and defensive specialist for Purdue. He’s resumed almost the exact same role at Texas. Heide has been really good in that role.
He’s the 8th best three point shooter in the country making 46% of his 102 attempts on the season while playing 22 minutes a game. He’ll now face his own team, that you could argue, is missing the exact thing that makes Heide such a valuable commodity in the first place. Heide is a wing with elite size, athleticism, and shooting.
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