FanPost

Is the CBI a possibility?

Well, that game sucked. I know some folks on here would prefer to see this season crawl away into the wild and sit under a tree waiting to die. But for those of us who'd still like to watch some more Purdue ball (however painful it might be), the only realistic possibility is the ignominy of the CBI.

I don't know much about the CBI or who gets in, but I thought I'd take a look to gauge our chances. According to the extremely vague explanation at the tournament's website, teams are selected "based upon performance during their conference and non-conference schedules, as well as how well the team is playing at the end of the regular season."

The main knock against us is our record. We have a few decent wins (@ Wisconsin, vs Illinois, and vs Minnesota), but we're only 15-17 on the season. So I went back through the five years of the CBI and found that a total of 5 teams with losing records have made it in. A few .500 teams made it as well, but I didn't consider them.

The teams with losing records are listed below, along with their regular season record (including conference tourney games) and their result in the CBI:

2008 Cincinnati (13-18), lost in first game

2009 St. John's (16-17), lost in first game

2009 Oregon St. (13-17), champion

2011 Oregon (16-17), champion

2012 Washington St. (15-16), runner-up

So it seems it would be possible for Purdue to get in. The toughness of our conference, combined with the slight uptick in play toward the end of the season (the Nebraska game notwithstanding) would suggest that Purdue has a shot.

In other threads around H&R, some have mentioned that the cost of hosting a CBI event can be prohibitive for some schools, so that may come into play as well. In any case, the possibility remains for this team to get a few more games under its belt. And I'd be happy for some more Purdue basketball, no matter how it comes.



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