Believe it or not, college baseball is just about a week away. Purdue begins its schedule next Friday in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge at 1pm against Cincinnati. The Boilers also play Connecticut and Notre Dame in the event. The first home game is against No. 24 Louisville on March 27, and they even have a date at Victory Field in Indianapolis on April 4^th.

This will be the final season at Lambert Field (no, really!) as the athletic department recently announced that the new Alexander Field project will not be finished in time to have any regular season games this year. I don't if the season goes exceptionally well and Purdue is asked to be a regional host if it can be ready in mid-May, but that is too far ahead.

It isn't that farfetched, as this year's baseball team has an excellent chance of being the best in school history. Reliever Nick Wittgren is considered one of the top closers in the country, while the excellent blog College baseball Today has Purdue as one of the Big Ten favorites:

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Last season the Purdue baseball team tied a school record with 37 victories, but failed to reach the NCAA Tournament. The main reason was that the strength of schedule was incredibly weak, and they failed to beat Michigan State in four contests. Our Boilers now return one of the deepest teams in the conference, and today's schedule announcement carries enough heft to get over those gripes about playing a week schedule.

As you know, the new Alexander Field at the Northwest Athletic Complex will makes its debut in midseason, and the athletic department announced this morning that March 30th will hopefully be the first game at the new stadium. Purdue will continue to play at Lambert Field, its current home, until Alexander Field is finished. As it stands right now, only two games will need to be played at Lambert: The March 27th game against Louisville and the March 28th game against IPFW.

The rest of the schedule has some solid game. As usual, Purdue will begin on the road in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge on February 17th. Cincinnati, Connecticut, and Notre Dame. Purdue also has games scheduled against East Carolina and Maryland in a late February Tournament at East Carolina. The third week has another early season tournament at Auburn against Auburn, Southern Miss, and Charleston Southern. Purdue goes to Wichita State for a four game set in mid-March before playing at home.

Once in Big Ten play, Purdue curiously does not play Indiana this year. Since the Big Ten has only 11 baseball playing schools, the Boilers have a midseason bye weekend. They have filled it with a marquee road trip to UCLA. The Bruins were a regional host last season before losing to UC Irvine.

Overall, the schedule has lots of heft. UCLA, Connecticut, East Carolina, Southern Miss, and Illinois were all NCAA Tournament teams a year ago. Wichita State is often a very strong program. Louisville, Missouri State, and Nebraska have been recent CWS participants and regularly make the tourney. Auburn is a strong SEC program and we're playing in their tournament with Southern Miss and Charleston Southern. This is easily the most difficult schedule Purdue has faced in some time. Purdue only gets 17 games at home this year, so the if it is going to make the NCAA Tournament it will have to do so away from home. Hopefully next season we can have a few more home games with the completion of Alexander Field.

It's been awhile since we have had an Open Thread here, but it will still be a success because we're the Big Ten Open Thread Champs for two years running. Break out the Yuengling, find the Hilary Duff pictures, and make some pancakes. It's time for some afternoon baseball as Purdue looks to tie a program record with its 37th win. the Nittany Lions stand in our way in the opening round of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. Let's watch together live on Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten Baseball Tournament is unique considering that we are one of the "Big Six" conference in all of college athletics. The Pac-10, Big 12, ACC, SEC, and Big East all have multiple bowl bids, get at least 3-4 teams into the NCAA basketball tournament each year, and even the Big East generally puts more than one team into the NCAA baseball tournament. The Big Ten is the same, except we're almost exclusively a one-bid mid-major in baseball. Conferences like the Big West, Sun Belt, and WAC are all a lot more respected than our own Big Ten. Weather plays a major role, as most teams begin with their first 20-25 games away from the end of winter here in the Midwest. The rest of it is schedule strength. The truth is that the Big Ten cannot grow as a baseball conference as long as everyone only has crap teams to play during their non-conference schedule.

That is what makes the Big Ten Tournament one of the most exciting in college baseball. Generally, only the winner is going to advance to the NCAA Tournament, with maybe one other team every few years. That's a large reason why the Big Ten hasn't had a College World Series team since Michigan went in 1984. You have six teams fighting for one and only one shot at glory. All six are usually pretty solid too, and this year's field may be one of the most balanced in history.

Indiana, one of just four teams that reached 30 wins this season, is not even in the tournament after getting swept at Illinois. Many of the schools in the field haven't appeared in an NCAA Tournament in quite some time. Michigan State, one of two conference champions, hadn't won a share of the title in 32 years, while Illinois, the other champion, has just three championships in the last 20 seasons. Everything is at stake this weekend, and as long as Ohio State or Minnesota does not win the tournament someone will be breaking quite a drought in terms of making the NCAA's.

With that in mind, here is a preview of all six teams:

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While it does not have the rich history of LSU's Alex Box Stadium or Miami's Mark Light Field, Saturday afternoon marks a milestone in the Purdue baseball program's history as it will be the final time the Boilers play at Lambert Field. Opened in 1965, it honors long-time baseball and basketball coach Ward "Piggy" Lambert. It seats only 1,100, has no lights, and has never had a crowd of more than 1,000, but it has been the home of Purdue baseball for the last 46 years. (UPDATE: Per the official Purdue baseball Twitter feed, delays have pushed the opening of the new stadium into the middle of next season, so the home opener next year will be at Lambert.)

Next year our baseball team will move into a brand new stadium at the Northwest athletic Complex. It will have lights, meeting rooms, locker rooms, and will be one of the finest facilities in the Big Ten. Still, there is a certain amount of nostalgia at leaving old Lambert Field this season. I remember walking over for a few games when I lived on campus and it was almost a Wrigley-esque feel because you got all afternoon games. Sadly, we likely won't be able to send it off with a championship, but this baseball program is primed for next season to open the new stadium in style with quite a talented roster.

The final weekend series starts tomorrow when the evil Iowa Hawkeyes come to West Lafayette. While the Big Ten is likely farfetched at this point after we squandered Indiana's sweep of Michigan State last weekend, there is still a lot to play for. Iowa ended our season last year with an unceremonious sweep in Iowa City, followed by a pair of defeats in the Big Ten Tournament. We have yet to secure a place in this year's Big Ten Tournament, despite having the best overall record in the conference. The standings are as follows heading into the final weekend:

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Last weekend was a disaster. We came in tied for first place with high hopes, but left East Lansing after being swept by the Spartans down three games with six to play. That puts our chances at ending our 102 year Big Ten championship drought in serious jeopardy. There is hope, however, if you can stomach supporting one team this weekend:

The Indiana Hoosiers

Indiana was one of the best teams in the Big ten through the early part of the season and they have played possibly the toughest schedule of any Big Ten team. They would have championship aspirations of their own had they not gotten swept by Minnesota and Purdue in consecutive weekends. Now they are fighting just to make the Big Ten Tournament. After starting 25-10 they have won just two of their last 11 games, both against Northwestern last week. Since the Spartans finish against the Wildcats at home (where they are undefeated in Big Ten play) this is our last great chance to make up some ground.

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I am a pessimistic optimist. I feel you have to be when you're a Purdue fan (as well as a Cubs fan). Deep down, I know that greatness may forever be denied for my favorite teams throughout my life, but I keep hanging on in the hope that it will all pay off some day. When it does, all the heartache will be that much sweeter. Of course, the Cubs killed my grandfather and they're coming after me next, so what do I know.

While it is not quite greatness, our baseball Boilers dominated last weekend's series of separation with Indiana to set up a possible Big Ten deciding series this weekend at Michigan State. I enjoyed being in Florida last week and watching the inning by inning scores come across as we swept the Hoosiers. It was more entertaining than watching Miami commit seven errors in a 6-5 Friday loss to Florida State, then forget how to hit in a 2-0 Saturday loss. In terms of waiting, this weekend could be a huge step towards ending 102 years of Big Ten heartache. Our Boilers have four second place finishes in Big Ten play since 2001, but they haven't taken a conference title since 1909.

The Spartans earned some separation themselves, sweeping Penn State to make it a two-way tie atop the Big Ten standings. They are currently favored by the Big Ten to take the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but if Purdue can win this weekend's series they will likely take that favored spot and, if they somehow get to 40 wins (we're currently 30-13) before Selection Monday we might steal an at large. Here are your Big Ten standings before this weekend:

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The Big Ten baseball season has reached its halfway point and the standings look a lot like last year. No one can seem to break free and gain momentum like Michigan did in a runaway a few seasons ago. Everyone has played 12 games and Purdue, Michigan State, and Penn State are all tied at the top of the standings with a 7-5 conference mark. Iowa is in last place at 4-8, making just a three game difference between the top and the bottom. In addition to the Spartans, Nittany Lions, and Boilermakers, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State, Illinois, and Michigan are all tied at 6-6 a game behind the leaders. Don't count out Northwestern, who is the lone 5-7 team in the league.

That means everyone is alive for the one (maybe two?) bids that the conference will get into the NCAA Tournament. The first step is to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, which takes the top six teams. If you don't at least do that, you're done anyway. At this rate none of those bids will be locked up until the final weekend. A few schools do have small chances to earn an at large berth in the NCAA Tournament, and Purdue is one of them. Here is a quick look at those profiles, as well as the prospects for the rest of the Big Ten season.

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