Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/116099
f r o m e d i t o r b r i a n n e u b e r t worth it want. Snicker if you Big Ten Yeah, Purdue's the first-ever team to play in the College Basketball Invitational, which sources have now confirmed actually does exist and further report that Nebraska, with all its glorious basketball history, wanted no part of. It's a back-handed compliment if there ever was one, to be invited to the 16-team tournament made up of those willing participants left out of the 68-team NCAA Tournament and 32-team NIT. Purdue gets Western Illinois in the first round, maybe Vermont or Santa Clara in the second. Really, in the grand scheme of things, these are games of almost no consequence. In football, there are way too many bowl games, to the point where mediocrity is rewarded with postseason opportunities and all the perks that come with them. Purdue, undercut all season by the inconsistencies of youth, finished at 15-17, and by very few measures earned the right to play in the postseason. Now, mind you, there will be no perks for Purdue in the CBI, no warm weather, fancy hotels or bowl-game SWAG bags. Hell, Purdue's more or less paid its way into the postseason, shelling out the $35,000-and-then-some hosting fees to play at least one game. So what this amounts to is meaningless games, probably to be played in a half-empty Mackey Arena, Purdue taking a financial hit to boot. But it's great for Purdue, an absolute no-brainer. Indignities aside, what's there to lose? This is a team that returns most of its key players next season, and the more experienced they are eight months from now, the better they should be. At worst, maybe being tucked away in the darkest corner of the postseason while watching the NCAA Tournament in the days between might humble these guys and break them down to be built back up in the next few months. Maybe having to be around each other a couple more months serves as this sometimes-dysfunctional group's punishment for all its ups and downs. Or better yet, maybe this gives Matt Painter his best chance yet to test his team's pilot light. Who on this team do the games really matter to when the games don't really matter at all? We'll find out. Hey, everyone but Rapheal Davis, we're looking at you. As with Purdue all season, things can go one of two ways. The best of the Boilermakers might show up and win this thing, providing a springboard into next season, when the Boilermakers should resume their winning ways. Or these guys could mail it in — we'll find out very quickly whether these guys want to play or whether their coach is just making them, like children being sent to their rooms — and go down spectacularly, like the grand finale in a fireworks show. Either way, Painter might know all he needs to know heading into the blood-letting that will be this offseason, when much will inevitably change. A lot of these players, some seniors, some not, won't be on this team in a few weeks, but most will be, including the core that'll be built around. This year, much was made of Purdue's culture slipping, maybe temporarily, maybe not. The most basic component of that culture is simply caring. The culture must be restored. There's no better time than the present for Purdue to care. Even if it's in games few people will care all that much about. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 26 • 4