Purdue's once promising baseball season took a drastic wrong turn last weekend when the Boilers were swept by Iowa. Even worse, a disaster scenario nearly unfolded where Purdue would have been in a four-way tie with Northwestern, Michigan State, and Indiana for the final three tournament spots. I am not sure who the odd team out would have been in that case, but Paul Snieder's 3-run walk off homer for Northwestern gave the Wildcats an 8-6 victory over Michigan State, a 13-11 conference record, and knocked the Spartans out with an 11-13 record.

That sets up one of the most interesting and wide open Big Ten Tournaments ever this weekend at Bill Davis Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State, the conference preseason favorite, will not be there even as hosts. The Buckeyes stumbled to an 11-13 conference record and didn't qualify for the tournament. Michigan State, the team with the best overall record in the conference at 34-19 will also not be there. The Spartans started the year 22-5 and 4-1 in the Big Ten. They were even getting some top 25 national votes, but a loss to Minnesota on April 11^th started a four game losing streak and led to a 12-14 finish.

What's left is a field that had no real separation until the final weekend of the season. All games will be televised on the Big Ten Network and the schedule can be found here. Here is a quick look at all six teams playing for the conference's NCAA berth:

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...is Purdue backing into the Big Ten baseball tournament. The Boilers came into the weekend needing a sweep and a Minnesota loss to Ohio State to wint heir first Big Ten title in 101 years. They got the one Minnesota loss they needed and the sweep, but it wasn't the right kind of sweep.

Iowa handled Purdue quite easily in all three games, winning 7-2, 5-1, and 12-9 to roar into the tournament themselves as the four seed. Fortunately, Purdue got enough help from around the rest of the league to qualify for the tournament anyway with a 12-12 conference record. Their reward for such a bad weekend amongst the cornfields of Iowa City? The number five seed and a rematch with the same Hawkeye team that just finished beating the crap out of them.

Purdue will open the Big Ten Tournament at Bill Davis Stadium on the campus of Ohio State on Wednesday at 12:05pm against Iowa. All games will be on the Big Ten Network. The rest of the schedule is as follows:

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There is a lot on the line for both teams this weekend when Purdue travels to Iowa to finish up the baseball season. Iowa is trying to make its first Big Ten Tournament since 2007. Based on the current standings, the Hawkeyes are tied for fifth place with Indiana, Michgian State, and Ohio State.  They could use some help as they only own a tiebreaker over Ohio State thanks to last weekend's series win. Purdue, meanwhile, is seeking its first conference championship in 101 years and needs only one win to lock up a Big Ten Tournament berth for the third straight year.

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The baseball team managed to take two of three this weekend in Champaign, and there is finally some separation in the league standings as we head into the final weekend of the year. On Friday Matt Bischoff was dominant in an 8-2 win. After giving up a run in the first he retired 23 straight batters before giving up a run in the eighth. He finished with a complete game for his ninth win of the season. Kevin Plawecki had a huge 2-run homer in the sixth when Purdue blew the game wide open.It was Purdue's first complete game of the year.

Saturday night's game on the Big Ten Network was the exact opposite. Kevin Johnson threw a complete game shutout for Illinois in a 7-0 win. It was the first time Purdue had been blanked all season long. Purdue had plenty of baserunners with six hits, three hit batsmen, and two walks, but they couldn't string anything together against Johnson. Calvin Gunter took the loss for Purdue in 2 2/3. When coupled with Minnesota's win Saturday night, the Boilers fell a game back in the standings.

Today Purdue righted the ship for a 6-1 win to stay alive in the conference race. Minnesota also won, however, to complete the sweep of Penn State. Drew Wurdack threw 7 1/3 innings for the win, giving up only a run in the fifth. Nick Overmyer and Ryan bridges each had home runs to give Purdue its fourth series win in Big Ten play. Jonathan Lilly was 4 for 5 at the plate as well. With the victory, the Big Ten Standings now look as follows:

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As dramatic as the title sounds, you can say that about any Big Ten baseball game from here on out. the future of Purdue baseball looks good as Morgan Burke announced yesterday that the Lambert Field of Dream project should finally move forward with completion set for the 2012 season. The present is promising as Purdue controls its own destiny for its first Big Ten baseball title in 101 years. Here are the current conference standings heading into this weekend:

As you can see, the race is up for grabs. Purdue heads to Illinois this weekend, while Indiana is at Michigan State, Northwestern is at Michigan, Ohio State is at Iowa, and Penn State is at Minnesota. A few of these games will be on Big Ten Network over the course of the weekend. Today the Network will have Indiana at Michigan State at 2pm. Tomorrow IU and Michigan State will be on at noon while Purdue at Illinois will be on at 7pm. Sunday at 1pm they'll have the final game of the series between the Spartans and Hoosiers.

This race is so interesting because of its closeness. Coming into the season it was thought that Minnesota and Ohio State were way ahead of the pack. Minnesota has struggled mightily, while Ohio State's Alex Wimmers, an All-American who threw a no-hitter last year, has been injured lately. No one can seem to gain any separation in league play. Purdue is far from the only team that has blown a big lead in multiple games.

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An interesting story is taking place on the west side of Purdue's campus right now. Something that has not happened since William McKinley took office as President of the United States may be happening in a few weeks. After today's results, Purdue's baseball team sits in first place all by itself atop the Big Ten Standings. They carry a half game lead into tomorrow's season finale against Michigan State, with series remaining at Illinois (23-22, 8-10 Big Ten) and Iowa (21-25, 8-10 Big Ten) each of the next two weekends. Tomorrow's game against the Spartans is the only game on the Big Ten schedule, meaning a Purdue victory would give them a sweep and a full game lead when everyone in the conference has six games to play.

This is nothing short of amazing, especially when you consider the way Purdue started the year. They are currently 28-17, 10-7 in the conference, but they started 1-6 overall and lost four games to Big East schools down in the Tampa area to start the year. They have lost games to Cincinnati, Minnesota, and Indiana in which they held a lead in the ninth inning. They have lost games to Missouri and West Virginia with seven errors in each game, but they keep on chugging. Minnesota and Ohio State came into the year as the favorites in the Big Ten, but both have struggled mightily. That has made for an exciting conference race where last place Michigan State can make the entire conference be separated by two games with a win tomorrow. Someone has to win this thing, so it might as well be Purdue.

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Last season was a banner year for Big Ten baseball. Three teams (Minnesota, Ohio State, and Indiana) received bids to the NCAA Tournament. A fourth team, Illinois, was on the wrong side of the bubble, but the Fighting Illini had a huge series win at eventual National Champion LSU. This year isn't so good. Preseason favorites Minnesota and Ohio State have struggled, Michigan State started hot but has faltered of late, and no one has truly asserted themselves in Big Ten play. As a result, most tournament projections have the Big Ten as a one bid league. The competition for that bid will be one of the most fascinating races in the country during these final four weeks of the regular season.

The winner of the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus will likely be the conference's sole representative in the NCAA Tournament, but that will be a wide open tournament as all ten teams are within three games of each other. the key is being one of the top six teams that makes that tournament. Michigan and Northwestern lead the conference at 9-6. Purdue, Ohio State, and Minnesota are a game back at 8-7. Indiana, Michigan State, and Penn State are all 7-8 in league play, while Iowa and Illinois are 6-9. Purdue is hurting somewhat int hat it would lose a tiebreaker with Michigan, Northwestern, and Minnesota because it lost those series, but it holds the tiebreakers over Penn State and Indiana.

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Purdue starts the second half of its Big Ten season this afternoon with a critical road series at Indiana. Even though Purdue has lost three of four series to this point, they have managed to take a game in each series loss. When combined with the sweep of Penn State, they are still only a game out of first place in the conference with a 6-6 league mark. Unfortunately, the conference is about as tightly packed as possible right now. Four teams (Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Northwestern) are tied for first place at 7-5 in the league, while three more (Purdue, Indiana, and Minnesota) are a game back at 6-6. Illinois and Iowa are two games back at 5-7. That makes every remaining game critical.

As usual, the Indiana series will also go a long way in deciding the Crimson & Gold Cup Final Standings. Both schools have 7.5 points heading into the weekend. Purdue won last year's regular season series, but the Hoosiers spanked Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament on their way to a conference tournament win and NCAA appearance.

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