So last night, Minnesota nipped Purdue in Williams Arena. Minnesota has had a brutal schedule to begin the Big Ten season, losing to Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State on the road. They didn’t really have a bad game in the bunch, and it came after the Gophers had a non conference schedule that included wins against North Carolina, West Virginia and 10 other teams. They are a good team that got dealt a bad card with a tough schedule to start the conference schedule.
Purdue has one loss on the season, an admittedly bad loss on a neutral court against Richmond. Other than that game, they had been taking care of business, not just winning, but crushing every opponent on their schedule. They ripped Penn State in Happy Valley before the Nittany Lions went on to beat Michigan State and Illinois there. Up until that point, they had earned a #8 ranking with only one loss.
So, what does this mean, Minnesota beating Purdue by 3 in Williams Arena? I say it means that the Big Ten is a difficult conference, and Minnesota, despite the tough schedule, is still fighting and is still a good team. I think it proves that Purdue is a very good team, staying in a tough battle on the road, despite one of their top players not playing well. It shows a well rounded team that will contend for the Big Ten crown, especially now that they have had their wake up call.
Oh. Wait. Nope, I was wrong. According to basketball expert Seth Davis, it just means that Purdue was overrated. They will probably lose to a mediocre Big East team this weekend (one that Minnesota already beat).
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