DJ White rests up for the Purdue-Indiana showdown.Well, someone said there's a game tonight. Apparently, two schools in a basketball-mad state are meeting this evening in their only matchup of the year. In addition, the coach of one squad may be coaching his last game at that school because of repeated rules violations plus being a general liar when asked about it by his superiors and the governing body of his chosen profession.
The visitors start three freshmen, have won 11 in a row, are 4-0 against top ten teams and are 12-1 in Big Ten play. Each team is numbers 14 and 15 in the two polls -- one is ahead of the other in each. And in the Big Ten itself, they're only separated by a game and a half, although the winner of this game is effectively up by an automatic game the rest of the way because if the two were to end the season with the same conference record, the winner of this game would get the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The home team with the cheating coach is playing its third straight game against the top teams in the Big Ten. Fortuitously for them, each of those three has been at home. Seems perfectly fair to Kelvin Sampson.
Okay, why am I writing this like a Walt Whitman poem? The teams are Purdue and Indiana, two old-time rivals who haven't both been good at the same time in many a moon. Gene Keady and Bob Knight prowled these sidelines for years, and for the twenty years they overlapped in the conference their schools took 11 conference titles. (Incidentally, have you ever noticed that angry, demonstrative coaches "prowl" the sidelines; oddball, eccentric coachs "roam" the sidelines; and structured, controlled, military types "patrol" the sidelines?)
Purdue and IU are back at the top of the Big Ten. And tonight is their only scheduled matchup of the season. I'm sure we'll have more to share in terms of our pregame thoughts later on today. Or maybe we won't. We're not sure we want to acknowledge how badly we here at BS want to see a win tonight. Sure, we're greedy. But Matt Painter and this group of froshes have made us this way.
Boiler Up!
14 comments:
I prowl the lunch line...
Is White playing tonight or what?
Go Boilers!
I saw on ESPN.com that White was in but SI.com has him out (though that is an older article).
Kelvin Sampson could not be reached for comment. He was on the phone with... umm... someone. Unintenionally. And unknowningly.
And yes, supposedly DJ White is playing but that was according to Kelvin Sanctions. So we'll see how true it is. Could totally be a smokescreen, although I doubt the Boilers would be prepping differently.
There is no tiebreaker to determine the Big Ten regular season champion. If Purdue and IU both finish with 2 losses, they would be co-champions.
I too desperately want a win tonight but am being very quiet about it. No trash talk, no talk at all with IU co-workers. But when the game starts, I will be screaming at the TV.
Good correction, Matt. I didn't really think that through (like so much in my life).
I guess I was thinking if we ended up tied but they had the head-to-head win then they'd get to go to the Rose Bowl.
Wait, what? Did I black out again?
the tiebreaker is for seeding in the conference tourney (important, i know). the big ten actually has a pretty complicated system. courtesy of elliot bloom, purdue sports information:
"If teams tie then the first tiebreaker is head to head. If multiple teams tie, then its their record against the teams they are tied with. The next tie breaker is your record against the first place team, then second place team and so forth."
yes, i requested that info last year, when we were on the tournament bubble and there was a conceivable five-way tie for third place in the conference that could've drastically affected who we played in the first round of the conference tourney. however, this year the difference between a 1- or 2-seed doesn't mean squat to me. if we end up tied and lose a tiebreaker i'd still buy the championship t-shirt.
IU WILL WIN. BOILERS SUCK PHARMACUETICAL ENGINEERING DONG. IU CHICKS ARE HOT, PU CHICKS ARE SCABS! BABABOOEY HOWARD STERN RULES!
The calm, reserved demeanor of this site today is frightening ... as if you know something that IU fans don't. Hurry up and do something Boilerish. Please.
Fellas, here are a few nuggets on tonight's action from the folks at http://pregame.com.
Purdue has won 5 straight conference road games for the first time since the 1995-96 season. The Boilermakers have never won 6 straight conference road games.
The Hoosiers have posted an impressive 32-1 record when scoring 70 points or more under head coach Kelvin Sampson. Indiana may have trouble reaching that number, as Purdue is allowing just 60.5 points per game on the season.
Purdue is 11-1 ATS in its last 12 games overall.
Purdue is 13-3 ATS in its last 16 road games.
Purdue is 22-6 ATS in its last 28 games vs. Big Ten.
Purdue is 2-6 ATS in the last 8 meetings in Indiana.
Flipside Corporate -- Not sure what you mean... we have our requisite post up acknowledging there's some sort of athetic contest tonight. And we have our spy photo of DJ White's creative new approach to minimize stress on his knee -- the belly crawl!
Thanks for stopping by... I notice you have some testosterone flowing over at your place this week.
One of my co-editors here met Sassy Lass Erin Andrews last week when she was in WestLaf and so we're just still kinda looking around with pinwheels in our eyes as a result. Hard to be a hater when you're in first place.
And what exactly is... "Boilerish"? I KNOW you're not suggesting we're cocky or something... because, why would we be?
Hey guys, congrats on the SI mention. Sounds like I need to come up with "Thong Thursday" to get more readers.
Wide-assed Wednesday?
Thanks, Travis! We were kinda shocked... I guess we have Erin Andrews and her fine bottom to thank.
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