Most college basketball coaches choose to focus only on the present, whether that’s the next practice or game. If you ask them in October about playing for a national championship come April, they will steer the conversation right back to the here and now.

Matt Painter believes one of his mistakes last year was not talking about playing for the title enough.

One year after he led Purdue to the verge of its first NCAA championship, the Boilermakers had a good-but-not great season, one that ended with a heartbreaking 62-60 loss to Houston in the Sweet 16. In retrospect, Painter thought that he should have made a return to the title game a focus in December, rather than wait until his team had made big strides in March.

“We should have talked it into existence,” Painter said. “We should

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