"Baby Boilers" Settle for 2nd Place finish.

Purdue's young guns knocked off the university with the original Fab Four. This contemporary version features freshman with names like Hummle, Moore, Martin and Johnson sparking Purdue to a stunning season. This afternoon the Boilermakers win their final game of the regular season 72-58 in Ann Arbor and clinch sole possession of 2nd place in the Big Ten.

Only a stumble this past Tuesday night in Columbus kept the Baby Boilers from collecting the Big Ten title, losing by 3 in overtime. Had they won that game and then the one today, Purdue would have won the title outright by virtue of beating Wisconsin twice this season. However, the loss to Ohio State cost Purdue that championship banner and the young squad end in 2nd place, one full game behind the Badgers.

Now the Boilermakers (24-7, 15-3) are seeded #2 into the Big Ten post-season tournament and face the winner of Penn State-Illinois for a Friday night game. Purdue has never won the post-season tournament. In fact, the Boilers are usually out in the first round. This year might be different. Especially considering that one of the four frosh, Scott Martin, seems to finally be getting his groove going.

Martin has battled back from an ankle injury earlier in the year, and was key in the win over Michigan St. He also played exceptionally well against Ohio St., as well as today against Michigan. That means the Boilers are chugging on all cylinders now, enabling the Boilers to get potential double-figure scoring from any of their five starters, while be able to go to a deep bench. Their only possible weakness (and it's a glaring one) is not having a big man in the paint.

One thing that is certain is that the Boilers have earned a trip back to the NCAA tournament. That will be the second trip in three years for young Matt Painter, who has turned the program back into a winner just three years after succeeding long-time coach Gene Keady. In his first year, Matt Painter had to endure ending up at the bottom of the league. What a turnaround.

The achilles heel for Purdue in losses this season has been poor shooting and breakdowns defensively allowing dribble penetration. Teams with larger front-lint players are also starting to take advantage of the inside game, and pushing the perimeter out further on Purdue when the Boilers set up offensively. The Baby Boilers will have to adjust to that in both tournaments if they hope to go deep in tourney play.

But for the youngest team in the nation, in their first year of play at this level, it is a huge achievement. With the addition of a big, dominating inside player, the Boilers are Final Four material in the coming years.

BONUS PURDUE SPORTS NEWS: The Lady Boilers knocked off Illinois 58-56 to win the Big Ten Women's Championship at Conseco Field House in Indianapolis tonight. Lakisha Freeman hit a follow-up rebound of her own miss at the buzzer to capture an improbable tournament title for a Boiler squad who has struggled through injury and adversity this season. Had Purdue's lady Boilers not won the Big Ten tourney, it's hard to imagine they would be going to the NCAA tournament.

This is the 7th B10 tournament title for the Purdue women's team overall. That's HALF of them, as the tournament is 14 years old. The last tournament championship loss for Illinois was back in 1999, to Purdue. In that year, Purdue went on to win the NCAA Women's title.

Deja vu? Doubtful...but exciting nonetheless for a team that really wasn't expected to do this.