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volume 23, EX 26 • March 18, 2013 Inside | A look at the CBI 6-8 | Women get NCAA bid 17–18 Spring football preview 23–24 | NFL Boilers 28-29 purdue gets chance to continue season BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com with a losing record Despite finishing isn't over2005-06, Purfor the first time since due's difficult season quite yet. The Boilermakers accepted a bid this weekend to the College Basketball Invitational, the 16-team event that sits third in the hierarchy of college basketball postseason events behind the NCAA Tournament and NIT. It's a dubious distinction for Purdue to become the first Big Ten team to play in the CBI since its inception in 2008, but a move Coach Matt Painter hopes will benefit his program in the long run. "Everybody that gets into this feels the same way, because you have not reached your goals for the season," said Painter, whose team plays Western Illinois Wednesday night in Mackey Arena. "When you go to six straight NCAA Tournaments, you've Publishers Note Basketball results will determine our publishing date for next week's issue of Gold and Black Express. taken a couple steps backward by not going. "For us, I felt we had to make the right decision for our program and our players, especially our younger players and play more games and get experience." It's been a frustrating season, probably never more so than at the end, when Purdue seemingly peaked to conclude the regular season, playing three of its best games of the year, before suddenly falling back into old form and getting booted from the Big Ten Tournament in Round 1 by Nebraska. Prior to that game, Painter was visibly enthused, seemingly rejuvenated, to coach his team in the postseason, figuring it had finally turned a corner. In Chicago, it took another turn, this one for the worse. "Sometimes you don't Tom Campbell quite know where your team The opportunity for young players like A.J. Hammons to get additional practice and game experience is the most intriguing part of the Boilermakers' is," Painter said Monday. "It's opportunity to extend their season. THE Numbers 7 1 21-8 3,823 The number of times the Boilermaker women have been a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, posting a strong 11-6 record and advancing to the Elite Eight twice. The number of Big Ten teams to play in the CBI, as Purdue is the first. Purdue was also the first league school (along with Michigan) to play in the NIT (1971). The Boilermaker men's all-time record against teams in this year's College Basketball Invitational Field. The smallest crowd to ever see a men's game in Mackey Arena (2001 NIT vs. Illinois State), a number that might be in danger on Wednesday night. baffling, to be honest with you, because how can you play 31 games, then have that kind of response in the most important game of the year? Your only chance of going to the NCAA is if you win your tournament. It was a tough pill to swallow from a coaching standpoint." When Purdue returned to its hotel following the Nebraska game, Painter asked his team collectively if it wanted to keep playing. The coach suggested not everyone may have been "gung ho" about playing. For their part, players say they're all in. "Coach said that if we were going to play, we were going to play as if we were GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 26 • 1