Kentucky, Kansas state troopers agree on winner in Twitter basketball predictions

When two Kentucky and Kansas state troopers predicted what would happen in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, both picked the Wildcats to win.

Trooper Ben Gardner with the Kansas Highway Patrol and Trooper Robert Purdy with the Kentucky State Police each picked their own state's team to win.

"It's going to be some heartaches tonight," Purdy said in a Twitter video.

Purdy lost on four of his five picks. Gardner won on four of his five.

K-State beat Kentucky 61-58 in the Sweet 16.

In addition to picking K-State, Gardner picked Loyola-Chicago to beat Nevada, Michigan over Texas A&M and Gonzaga to beat Florida State. He was right on three of those four.

"And as always, I'm going to go with the seat belts for the win," Gardner said.

Purdy chose Kentucky, Nevada, Texas A&M and Gonzaga — all of whom lost. He agreed with Gardner on seat belts for the win.

They also agreed that people should not drink alcohol and drive.

"Getting behind the wheel while impaired, while drunk, is dumb, even more dumb than pulling for Kansas State in the Sweet 16," Purdy said.

Several college basketball experts ranked K-State as the worst team in the Sweet 16 before Thursday's upset. With a back-and-forth game in the second half, both troopers tweeted about buckling up for March Madness.

Sgt. John Perrine with the Indiana State Police joined the conversation and cheered for K-State, as did the Illinois State Police.

After the game, Gardner tweeted that anyone needing a designated driver for the weekend could ask a Kentucky fan now that they're free.

This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Kentucky, Kansas state troopers agree on winner in Twitter basketball predictions."