Purdue has won back-to-back Big Ten regular-season titles, and on this final day of January, it is still in position to compete for another despite the departure of two-time National Player of the Year winner Zach Edey. Yes, the Boilermakers are two games back of Michigan State in the loss column of the conference standings. And, no, they will not have the luxury of hosting the Spartans this season; they only have one game scheduled against Michigan State, and it’ll be played next month inside the Breslin Center.
So it’s an uphill battle, that’s for sure.
But Purdue is still in the race, alone in second of the Big Ten and one game ahead of Michigan in the win-column of the conference standings. And the Boilermakers will have an opportunity to extend that lead over the Wolverines late Friday when they welcome Indiana to Mackey Arena.
Will this be Mike Woodson’s final game at Mackey?
Maybe.
Either way, that’s another storyline connected to this matchup — how one program is ranked 10th in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, while the other (the one everybody calls a blue blood) is likely a little more than a month away from firing its coach after he finishes outside of the top five of the league standings for the third time in four years.
Indiana is 14-7 overall, 5-5 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have lost four of five. These days, you’re more likely to hear “Fire Woodson” chants inside Assembly Hall than you are to watch the home team win. It’s gotten ugly. And, barring a surprise, it’ll only get worse at Purdue, where the Hoosiers are 12.5-underdogs to their in-state rival that’s about to finish ahead of them in the Big Ten standings for the ninth consecutive year.
