I have to admit that I never expected the Northwestern game in Evanston to be a turning point in our season. I thought it would be a difficult road trip because their unorthodox style of play. Like Michigan, we did not play Northwestern during the 2011 calendar year. Our one game against them last season came on December 31, 2010. That followed a season in which we lost to them in Evanston, but beat them in Indianapolis at the Big Ten Tournament.

The Wildcats, of course, are still looking for that elusive first NCAA Tournament berth. I want them to get there too, but certainly not at our expense. They had a great start toward it this season by winning the Charleston Classic over LSU and Seton Hall. The Seton Hall victory is still very good at No. 19 in the RPI, as is their home win over Michigan State, but LSU is just the third top 100 team they've beaten at a mediocre 78.

They don't have a bad loss at all. They are still a solid No. 38 in the RPI, so you know they will look to beat Purdue if only to put them a rung higher than us in the Big Ten pecking order. They are only 2-5 in league play so far. Losses to Baylor, Ohio State, Creighton, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota are far from bad. In fact, if they had not lost in overtime at Michigan and by a point at home to Illinois, they would be solidly in the field.

2011-12 Record: 12-7, 2-5 Big Ten

2010-11 Record: 20-14, 7-11 Big Ten

Postseason Result: Lost to Washington State 69-66 (OT) in NIT Quarterfinals

Blog Representation: Lake the Posts, Sippin' On Purple

Series with Purdue: Purdue leads 120-43

Last Purdue win: 12/31/2010 82-69 at Purdue

Last Northwestern win: 1/16/2010 72-64 in Evanston

Time & TV 4pm on ESPN2

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Thursday night in Indianapolis the future of Purdue basketball took the floor on the Westside against Trader's Point Christian Academy. It was a different experience for me. After attending hundreds of high school basketball games over the years this was the first time I saw two non-IHSAA teams play. Rapheal Davis and Jay Simpson (with future mortal enemy Hanner Perea) drew such a big crowd the game was moved to Covenant Christian High School. John Wadas was there, as was regular reader and recruiting FanPost guru Oldboiler52, JustAJ from Crimson Quarry, and Bill Carmody to look at a couple of Trader's Point player that will be headed to Northwestern.

It was a good game to see Rapheal and Jay because they were playing against some competition they'll be facing over the next few years. Perea, of course, is going to Indiana. Alex Olah and Milos Kostic are each headed to Northwestern over the next two years, while Mislav Brzoja could join them as a late 2012 signee. Brzoja was a very impressive player that is a late bloomer and could fit very well for the Wildcats.

LaLumiere earned a come-from-behind 65-49 win, and one of our boys did very well. Davis finished with a game-high 30 points.

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I am considering a field trip tonight to see LaLumiere face Trader's Point Christian Academy. It should be interesting, as Raphael Davis and Jay Simpson will be going against a team that has a couple of kids going to Northwestern, so it is a bit of a Big Ten preview.info about that leads off this morning's Boilermakings.

Varsity Boys Basketball vs. La Lumiere
Here is the basic info for those in Indy interested in seeing our LaLumiere recruits play tonight. UPDATE: The game tonight has been moved to Covenant Christian HS.

JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore Go Way Back - CelticsBlog
Great stuff as usual from Jessica Camerato on our two rookies from Purdue (that go back much farther than that).

La Lumiere defeats Trader's Point Christian Academy - La Lumiere Athletics
A small wrap up of LaLumiere's win over Trader's Point Christian Academy

Lawrence North vs North Central - The Zone - January 20
Fourth-ranked North Central hosts MIC rival Lawrence North.

GoldandBlack.com - Exit Interview: Justin Siller
Justin Siller talks about his final season in West Lafayette.

Power Poll Wrap-Up: Now With Graphs and Simpsons References! - Off Tackle Empire
Off Tackle Empire presents the final power poll of the season, along with a recap of where we've been throughout the year...

BaseballAmerica.com: College: Chat: Preseason College Top 25 Chat
Purdue made it into Baseball America's top 25 chat, as we're Aaron Fitt's pick to win the Big Ten.

Purdue & IPFW to Again Square Off at MiLB Stadium Parkview Field
Purdue baseball's May 8 game at IPFW has once again been moved to Parkview Field in downtown Fort Wayne, the home of the San Diego Padres' Class A affiliate in the Midwest League, the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

Former Purdue star elected to NJCAA Hall of Fame - Purdue Exponent: Mens
Former Purdue standout Carl Landry has been elected to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Hall of Fame.

Rayburn named finalist for Senior Class Award - Purdue Exponent: Womens
Purdue senior guard Brittany Rayburn has been named one of ten finalists for the Lowe's Senior Class Award based on character, class, community, and competition.

Construction delays keep Purdue baseball games at Lambert Field - Purdue Exponent: Baseball
There will be no games at the new Alexander Field this season, as the entire Purdue home baseball season will be played at Lambert Field.

Super 46 Sandwiches | The Indiana Insider Blog
Everyone loves a good sandwich. Here are 46 – There you can vote the Triple XXX Duane Purvis as the best sandwich on earth.

Big Ten Power Rankings: Vol. II - BT Powerhouse
Check out the Power Rankings to see how we think each team in the B1G is doing.

For the first time this year I am allowing myself to think that the NCAA Tournament may not be in this Purdue team's future. Is it good enough to win the requisite games to make the tournament? Absolutely! What we lack is the consistency that gives me the confidence to say, "of course we'll make it!" Having lost three of our last four games, twice in gut-wrenching fashion, we're at a crossroads. We can either lay down and die, or sack up and start playing Purdue basketball again. Let's step back from the ledge, because we're far from done.

You can make all the talent arguments you want, but the bottom line is that this team has one unrated player (John Hart) and four 4-star players (Robbie Hummel, Terone Johnson, Anthony Johnson, and D.J. Byrd) with everyone else rated as three-stars. That is plenty of talent to make an NCAA Tournament. Period. We also have at least four more 4-stars coming in the next two years, so recruiting is fine.

The final ten games will not be easy. We have five at home and five on the road. We need to win at least one road game and probably four of the five home games, but this is far from the impossible task that some make it out to be. I have seen enough good stretches of basketball to believe this team can beat anyone if thing are clicking. All we need to do is get them clicking with consistency.

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This is really starting to become old. With seven losses on the season now, I can pretty much list the common threads that seem to be connected in all of them and pick what excuses we'll use. They go as follows:

• Missed free throws
• Failure to rebound
• Cold stretches of 10 minutes or more
• Painter can't land the big recruit
• Painter is overpaid and should be fired
• Failure to attack the basket while settling for threes
• Defensive breakdowns at critical times
• Leaving shooters unguarded on a switch.

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Aw yeah, it's time to invite the Wolverines to Mackey Arena!

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Okay, well, maybe not those Wolverines, but we do have an incredibly important game against Michigan tonight. By my count, we need to win six of our final 11 Big Ten regular games if we want to make sure we're totally 100% safe on Selection Sunday. I say six wins because there is a very good chance that 11 of the 12 tames in the conference will finish in thee RPI top 100, and as many as nine in the top 50. That makes for a lot of chances at good wins and very few bad losses.at 20 wins with a 10-8 Big Ten record we should be safe.

With that in mind, here are my rankings from most likely games to win to least in the final 11:

11. Nebraska

10. Penn State (we need revenge for that ugly Happy Valley game)

9. Northwestern

8. Indiana

7. Michigan

6. at Northwestern

5. at Illinois

4. Michigan State

3. at Indiana

2. at Michigan

1. at Ohio State.

Got a rebuttal? Start it here in the pregame discussion.