Tonight, Purdue will face its toughest challenge during the Big Ten season so far as #4 Nebraska comes into West Lafayette tonight at 8pm. The game will be live on BTN, so I will try to do another Game Thread for this game (though they tend to work better when Purdue is on the road). Purdue then faces Iowa Saturday night after the football game at 8pm. Iowa is the complete opposite of Nebraska, as they are 0-4 in Big Ten play so far.

Last season, Nebraska beat Purdue 3-1 in Lincoln, Nebraska, as was expected since the NU Coliseum is one of the toughest places to play in the country. However, the same day Robert Marve scored the game winning touchdown to beat Ohio State in overtime, Purdue Volleyball swept Nebraska in one of the best games I have seen on Belin Court. Though Nebraska went on to win the Big Ten (their first ever B1G conference title), they fell early in the NCAA tournament, ending their potential Final Four run. This year, they came into this season looking for redemption. They beat #1 UCLA at home the first weekend of the season 3-2, but later fell on the road to Iowa State and Penn State.

Nebraska will give Purdue a challenge tonight, just as much as Illinois did last week, but with less mistakes (don't expect 14 services errors committed by Nebraska). It will be a great game in a packed Boiler Box. For those who still want tickets, Purdue will start selling the leftover Nebraska tickets at 7pm, and StubHub still has general admission tickets being sold for instant download at $10 a piece.

Purdue: 3, Nebraska 2

Last season, Indiana and Iowa were the bottom feeders of the Big Ten. 2012 is no different as both teams have started 0-4. However, both of these teams took Purdue into the 5th set at home last season. I think it's safe to see that Purdue overlooked these teams and played down to their level. Coach Shondell has to avoid that no matter what the result is tonight against Nebraska. This game will either be a boost from a win over Nebraska or a pick-me-up win after a lose to NU. The one thing I pray that it is not is a loss to Our Most Hated Rivals. Purdue should roll over Iowa on Saturday. Anything less will be a disappointing.

Purdue: 3, OMHR: 0