Boilers #1 in Big Ten

Never would have thought it. Not in a million years. And it seems like it has been ions since I could write that subject line. Only 12 years since our last title, but that IS ions in basketball years in this state.

Yes, I saw the inevitable potential in the 4 young Purdue players this past summer in Mackey during the exhibition Indiana all-star game. I knew Matt Painter would eventually have them playing as a solid team and challenging for Big Ten titles in a couple of years, while creating havoc for the initial two years as this young squad matured in the midst of Big Ten battles.

However, never in my wildest dreams did I conjure up even one thought of battling for the title in their very first campaign. And much of this has been done with extremely suffocating defense and early season shooting woes. And one of the four, Scott Martin, has been out with an injury for a few games. Before that, Robbie Hummel sat out the lone league loss with the flu.

This is one of the most enjoyable and exciting Purdue teams I have ever watched. I remember the Walter Jordan, Wayne Walls and the 1974 NIT Champions were fun to watch. So too was the NCAA Final Four team of Joe Barry Carroll, Jerry Sichting, the Walker brothers and Arnette Hillman. The improbable 1984 team with the Jim Rowinski bank shot to beat Illinois and the might 1988 team with the triplets of Stephens-Mitchell-Lewis. And of course the three-peat team of '94,'95 and '96 led by Glenn Robinson, were as exciting as any.

But now comes as big a game in the Purdue-IU rivalry as there has ever been. Not since 2000 have these two teams battled in a league game that meant something other than bragging rights. THIS game is for the league lead and potentially the league championship. IF Purdue wins, they will have a lone loss in league play, while the Hoosiers would then have 3.

The game is in Bloomington and for whatever ridiculous reason, this is the only matchup between these in-state rivals this year, so Purdue would then have the edge on both IU and Wisconsin, while splitting the series with four loss Michigan St. Decided advantage for Purdue.

Tuesday night will be HUGE.