Almost Everybody Likes Boilers...What now?
If you don't follow us on Twitter, I'm not really sure what you're doing with your life...it's like this site only in tasty bite-sized morsels with even more spit and vinegar mixed in. But if you do follow us, you know that some hack called Purdue overrated a few days ago and we took umbrage with it. It wasn't so much that he had an opinion that disagrees with nearly every major poll, Purdue's results and what your eyes tell you, but also because he had no idea what he was talking about. Ill-informed people love spouting off...but if they want to say stupid stuff without accountability, they probably shouldn't publish it on the interwebnet. That guy isn't impressed with Purdue...But EsPN's BPI (Basketball Power Index) is. It's got Purdue at number one...in the nation. That #1 ranking joins the Sagarin poll as the second ranking system to have Matty's boys on top of the basketball world, looking down on creation...
This week, after a small jump in the voted polls, Purdue's BSCR falls over 3 points to 10.6.
If you remove the dumb RPI (32) the Composite Ranking rises to 5.25.
What's it all mean? It means Purdue is good. At 11-0, they're only the 7th Purdue team in the history of the program to start this fast...and to start all games with a margin of 12+ points in each game, this early season run is unprecedented for the program. But it's about to get a bit tougher.
Purdue will play the 17th ranked Butler Bulldogs in Indianapolis on Saturday, follow that up by hosting Vandy at Macky three days later...then a week long Christmas break before the B1G meat grinder gets churning.
We've said it a thousand times on this site and elsewhere, rankings in December really are pretty worthless (other than they might start softening up the tourney committee for March). Purdue basketball's feed on Twitter details how much publicity the program is getting and how they're looking at some sort of historical significance with each win.
With that, let's remind our boys to stay humble and hungry- 11, 12, 13...20 and 0 starts happen somewhat regularly for the bluebloods of the college basketball world. In fact, Matty's squad started out 14-0 in 2009-10 before losing three straight. Just a year ago, Kentucky won THIRTY-EIGHT straight games before losing in the final four to Wisconsin. Is comparing Purdue to an elite team a reach? Not this season...These Boilers are good, they have a few opportunities to show how good they are in the next 7 days.
Unlike the previous few seasons, I'm absolutely stoked when I look at the schedule...each game provides an opportunity to prove that our Boilers belong where they're ranked now- near the top of the nation.
I heard a great radio interview today with Isaac Haas on Query and Schultz in Indianapolis...and for the first time, the possibility of him leaving for the NBA after this season came up. He's playing that well...and his supporting cast, including the best backup center in the nation, are all doing their part to make topics like this not just pie-in-the-sky conversation. If they keep winning the next seven days, they'll have everybody's attention.
With great basketball comes great expectation.
*The Boiled Sports Composite Ranking is the average of KenPom, Sagarin, RPI, Coaches and Media rankings*
