Still dancin'

 So I look up now, and North Carolina State -- North Carolina State! -- is in the Elite Eight. Beat 2-seed Marquette by nine the other night in the Sweet Sixteen, after leading by double digits most of the way. All this after the Wolfpack lost seven of their last nine games in the regular season, including the last four.

But then the Pack somehow jacked around and won the ACC Tournament, which earned them an 11-seed. Now they play 4-seed Duke to go to the Final Four while 6-seed Clemson takes on 4-seed Alabama -- which means the ACC comprises almost half the Elite Eight, and gets to be all snotty and superior again.

But enough about that.

Let's talk about Your Purdue Boilermakers, for whom North Carolina State might be a cautionary tale if the Boilers weren't already full up with cautionary tales.

Full up ... and fed up.

Because here came 5-seed Gonzaga last night, and here came Zach Edey and Co., saying "Nuh-uh, we've already seen this movie." Saw it last year and the year before that and the year before that, and decided enough with this bull***.

Which is why Edey went for 27 points and 14 boards last night, and point guard Braden Smith, who like all of these Boilers takes no guff from anyone, added a stat line for the ages: 14 points, 15 assists, eight rebounds. Lance Jones and Fletcher Loyer added 12 and 10 points, respectively, and Purdue shot 57 percent and 45 percent from Threeville, and Gonzaga was swept away, 80-68.

Three tournament games; three double-digit wins.  Average margin of victory: 26 points.

And so the Eff You, Doubters Tour rolls on, unless it's the Call Us Chokers, Will Ya? Tour. As has been observed in several quarters since the Madness began, this is one locked-in basketball team. 

Or pissed off basketball team. Or mountain-sized-chip-on-the-shoulder basketball team. Or all-of-the-above basketball team

And look, I don't know what happens tomorrow against 2-seed Tennessee, which is playing some damn good basketball itself. The Midwest region is the only one that's gone chalk to this point, and if it goes chalk tomorrow Matt Painter will be in the Final Four and the knuckleheads who said Purdue should move on from him can just shut the hell up already.

Will it happen? Beats me. The difference between a 1-seed and a 2-seed is virtually invisible, so either way it'll be no shock. And it could, because as North Carolina State has shown, chalk sometimes gets dusted in the Madness. That's why they call it the Madness.

Me, I'm thinking Purdue wins. The Boilers are still dancin', and it's big-mad dancin'. And with apologies to Kevin Bacon, there ain't nothin' footloose about that.

As if.