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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 23 • 1 BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com I f the season ended today, Purdue would be squirm- ing come Selection Sunday. After a win at Ohio State that could have all but sealed Purdue's NCAA Tournament place slipped away, the Boilermakers remain in a position where they must play their way onto more solid footing. Make no mistake: There are hundreds of teams in college basketball who'd trade spots with 19-10 Purdue right now, but the fact remains that the Boilermakers are very much on the tournament bubble despite their resurgent Big Ten season. Internet projections are what they are — and they remain based on very incomplete data, rife with hypo- theticals — but Purdue is now viewed as the second- to-last team into the field in ESPN's latest "Bracketology." Others are more bullish on Purdue's standing. CBS Sports is more confident in the Boilermakers, projecting them to be a No. 10 seed. Yahoo! Sports pegs Purdue a 9 seed. But things can change very quickly. As of Monday morning, Purdue was No. 57 in the NCAA RPI index. It has gotten some help lately from teams like BYU, Kansas State and Vanderbilt, but that's still not the most comfortable situation to be in this close to the com- mittee converging. The Boilermakers are clearly right on the cusp, with the ability to remove all doubt with another win or two prior to the Big Ten Tournament, to which Purdue could have se- cured a double-bye with a win at Ohio State. Next up is Michigan State Wednesday night in East Lansing. Should Purdue fall to the Spartans, who've lost two straight, it would find itself finishing the regular season this weekend at home against Illinois in a game both teams would essentially have no choice but to win given the contest's likely NCAA Tournament implications. Illinois is probably right behind Purdue currently in the Big Ten's NCAA pecking or- der. It has multiple quality road wins and none of the bad losses that are still plaguing the Boilermakers. If Illinois were to add another big road win and send the Boilermakers into the Big Ten Tournament on a three-game losing streak, the Illini would almost certainly move over Purdue. The Boilermakers came close to making this all moot at Ohio State, building a 12-point halftime lead against the squad that just re-entered the top 25. Tom Campbell Purdue took care of part of its business by beating Rutgers, but failing to close things out at Ohio State left little margin for error entering its final week of the regular season. 8 Games Purdue has shot better from the floor than its opponent in eight league chances on the road. The Boil- ermakers are 4-4 in those games. 1-13 Purdue's record in Value City Arena, first playing there in 1999. $15K Amount Matt Painter has earned for charity by reaching the final round of four in the Coaches' Charity Challenge. If he wins it, he earns $100K for the charity. 3 Games this season the Boilermaker men have led by a dozen points yet lost the game. THE NUMBERS VOLUME 25, EX 23 • MARCH 2, 2015 Inside | Boilers split week; notes 6-7; 10-14 Octeus makes big impact in only season 8 Women to tourney 17-21 | Recruiting 22-23 Opportunity Comes And Goes, But Another Awaits