Purdue begins an absolutely critical week for its season coming off of its third stinging loss in conference play. The good news is that it is at home. This week is the best remaining opportunity to impress the NCAA committee because Purdue has three games left against current top 25 teams, but two of them are this week. The bad news is that it is the absolute last chance to keep the fading hopes of a 23rd Big Ten regular season title alive.
And those hopes are alive. If Purdue wins both games this week it is right back in the race, needing only two additional Wisconsin losses and one additional Maryland loss.