This past week, Valparaiso University received significant national media attention following the men's basketball team's 83-80, double-overtime victory over Purdue, which featured buzzer-beaters at the end of the first and second overtimes. The upset win, which came against the team ranked 24^th in the country, generated an estimated $12,553,167 in advertising value with the coverage reaching a potential audience of 727,650,322.
 
The upset and buzzer-beaters went viral on social media. Posts either originating from or collaborating with the Valpo Basketball and/or Valpo Athletics accounts on X, Instagram and Facebook totaled 4,522,953 views.
 
News of the upset was shared widely, including from highly-visible national media accounts. Accounts that posted about the victory on X included SportsCenter, Jon Rothstein, The Field of 68, NCAA March Madness, FOX College Hoops, Barstool Sports, Pardon My Take, Mid-Major Madness and many others. Head coach Roger Powell Jr.'s postgame interview with his former head coach Bruce Weber was posted by John Fanta and The Big Ten Network. Posts from these 10 accounts alone totaled 2,820,600 views on X. Those 10 accounts have a combined 53,312,500 followers. Social media conversation featured well over 1,000 posts from accounts discussing the win, totaling 23.1 million potential impressions.
 
The win was featured prominently on ESPN's SportsCenter with a highlight package. Later in the program, Valpo received more exposure as Justus McNair's buzzer-beater ranked No. 9 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays. The game itself was nationally-televised on Big Ten Network, which reaches 48.7 million to 50 million households coast-to-coast.
 
The victory was also highlighted on several Chicago newscasts – GN Sports on WGN-TV, NBC-5, CBS-2 and ABC-7. The highlights were shown on television stations across the country, including the Big Ten Network studio shows, KCCI CBS Des Moines, WMDB Peoria, WIFR Rockford, WNDU South Bend, CBS-4 Indianapolis, WSYM FOX East Lansing, CNN This Morning Weekend and many more.
 
Stories were written by highly-visible media outlets nationwide, including NCAA.com, the Associated Press, ESPN.com, USA Today, The IndyStar, Mid-Major Madness, Deadspin, Awful Announcing, The Chicago Tribune and many more. Closer to home, the story reached Northwest Indiana fans through The Times of Northwest Indiana, and some of the most ardent supporters of Valpo Athletics through ValpoAthletics.com and TheVictoryBell.com. ValpoAthletics.com saw a 355 percent spike in active new users on the night of the big win.
 
In the days after the victory, the nation's most prominent college basketball media members and outlets highlighted and recognized Valpo Basketball with attention and honors, including Sean Paul, Field of 68, Andy Katz, College Basketball Report, CBS Sports and more. Coach Powell joined The Drake Toll Show on Westwood One Sports, a syndicated morning show that airs on Sirius XM Channel 260 and 300+ radio stations across the country.  
 
Rakim Chaney joined national college basketball reporter Andy Katz for "Katz Chats." Katz reposted the interview to his 477,300 followers.
 
Alumni across the country beamed with Valpo pride after Friday's win. Ohio State head coach and Valpo alum Jake Diebler watched the end of the game and cheered on Valpo in front of media members covering Ohio State in the media room prior to Diebler's postgame press conference. Valpo alum Adam Amin is NFL broadcast partners with legendary Purdue quarterback Drew Brees on FOX. Two days after the Valpo victory over Purdue, Amin and Brees discussed the Valpo win during a game between the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys that was televised across most of the country.
 
The impact of the victory over Purdue exemplifies a Division-I athletic department's function, serving as a front porch for the institution and a rallying force for school spirit.