Purdue Boilermakers center Oscar Cluff. Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Purdue's Oscar Cluff goes viral for Queens location mix-up ahead of first-round matchup in March Madness

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Mar 16, 2026 3:35 PM ET

The selection committee revealed the 68-team field for the men's basketball NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Many don't know where the smaller schools in the bracket are located.

You might think the Queens Royals hail from New York, but you'd be wrong. They're based in Charlotte, nicknamed the "Queen City." Don't feel bad if you guessed wrong. Purdue Boilermakers senior center Oscar Cluff thought the same ahead of Purdue's first-round matchup in the West Region on Friday in St. Louis (7:35 p.m. ET, truTV).

Oscar Cluff goes viral for Queens location mix-up

Asked Sunday what he knew about Queens, Cluff said, "It's in New York somewhere."

Angela Moryan of WISH-TV in Indianapolis then corrected the Australian center. He was clearly embarrassed. Cluff shouldn't sweat it too much. At least he knew the program was somewhere on the East Coast.

“What do you know about Queens?” … “It’s in New York somewhere.” … “It’s in Charlotte. That’s North Carolina.”

I had this hilarious exchange with #Purdue’s Oscar Cluff talking about their first round opponent Queens.

No matter where the Royals are from, the Boilers will be… pic.twitter.com/uMnVIgLQEi
— Angela Moryan (@AngelaMoryanTV) March 15, 2026

What else do you need to know about Queens?

Queens is tiny compared to the Big Ten power. According to U.S. News & World Report, 1,599 students enrolled at the school for the 2024 fall semester. Meanwhile, 58,658 students registered at Purdue.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Queens has little basketball tradition. The Royals began competing in Division I in the Atlantic Sun Conference during the 2022-23 season. This season, the Royals (21-13, 13-5 Atlantic Sun) won the conference tournament, punching their ticket to March Madness for the first time in school history.

On the flip side, Purdue (27-8, 13-7 Big Ten) is typically a national title contender. The Boilermakers have made three Final Four trips, the most recent coming in 2024.

The team won its third Big Ten Tournament in an 80-72 victory over the Michigan Wolverines at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday. Cluff scored 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.

Purdue, however, has collapsed in the NCAA Tournament before. The Boilermakers became the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in a 63-58 loss to the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights in 2023.

If the No. 15-seeded Royals stun the No. 2-seeded Boilermakers on Friday, Cluff's location foul-up will become an even bigger meme.

Clark Dalton

Clark Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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