Since my
last two posts, neither of my teams has lost. Mizzou (12-13) beat
Oklahoma (in overtime) and then
Baylor in Columbia, and Purdue (7-15) beat
Iowa in West Lafayette, thanks to 29 points from Carl Landry, after a weekend off. Both have big games this weekend, when Mizzou travels to Nebraska and Purdue hosts Michigan State -- Mizzou has to win some games to get in the NIT, and even has an outside chance at an NCAA bid (if they win out before the Big 12 Tournament), while Purdue needs some confidence before the Big Ten Tournament, which is the only way they can advance to the postseason.
Purdue's key for the Big Ten Tournament, actually, is avoiding Illinois as long as possible (and hoping someone else beats them). Illinois has the 1 seed all but locked up, and thus Purdue wants to do everything possible to avoid being seeded 8th or 9th, thereby being forced to play Illinois in the second round. Currently, they sit in 9th, but at 3-8 are only a game behind the Iowa/Northwestern tie for 7th (I'm excluding the possibility of finishing 10th, since Penn State and Michigan are both really bad). Unfortunately, they'd probably have to win 7th outright to get the seed, since Iowa and Northwestern have both beaten Purdue this year. At best, Purdue can probably hope for 6-10, which could be good enough for just that; however, if they're 5-11 or 4-12, then 8th or 9th is pretty likely.
