Purdue Basketball | Midwest Sports Fans

Quick Poll: ‘This is Indiana’ v ‘Boiler Up’

December 10, 2011 By Jerod Morris 1 Comment

College students making music videos to celebrate their school’s sports teams, it seems, is a meme for which there is no end in sight.

Though some of these videos are undeniably awful, cheesy, and/or just plain lame, I don’t really have too much of a problem with them. As someone who loves his alma mater and bleeds school spirit, I can appreciate kids indulging their creative juices in an attempt to give their fellow fans something to rally around.

Last year, my favorite of these videos was released. Daniel Weber and Brice Fox blessed Hoosier Nation with “This Is Indiana,” which I initially resisted but soon came around on. Now the song gets played at Assembly Hall during games and we use it in our intro to The Assembly Call.

And just last week, a group of Purdue students, led by Mirror Men Music, made what can be viewed as a response video, when they released “Boiler Up.” I’ve watched it, and removing all subjectivity from the discussion I don’t think it’s anywhere close to as good a song or as well produced as video as “This Is Indiana.”

But that’s just my opinion, and you are free to take it with several grains of salt since I’m an IU grad who obviously hates Purdue (but is respectful of the Boilers).

What I’m trying to say is that my opinion doesn’t count. Of course I like “This Is Indiana” more. The question is, which song and video do you think is better? Listen, then vote.

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For Purdue basketball, is it “Boiler Down” after disappointing end to 2011? Not This Year.

March 23, 2011 By Jon Washburn 3 Comments

In the aftermath of my Boilermakers’ stunning loss to VCU on Sunday, someone asked me, “Twitch, how would you build the perfect college basketball team?”

Usually, I love questions like this because it opens up the door for lots of argumentation and debate. Unfortunately, this one didn’t. Why? Because of my answer.

“It’s already been done. The 2006 and 2007 Florida Gators.”

Now, if you are a fan of UNC, Duke, Kansas, Connecticut, or any of the other recent NCAA Champions, don’t get offended. Every team that wins a championship is built for success in one way or the other. But the fact is, only one team has repeated as champion in the past 20 years, and it had nothing to do with lack of competition and everything to do with how perfectly constructed the Gators were as a team.

For most of this season, Purdue fans thought that our Boilermakers we constructed in a way that made a national title a real possibility. And we were, before…

Well before something unfortunate happened that robbed us all of a chance to see just how good this team could be.

In this post, I analyze Purdue’s 2010-11 team within the context of recent past champions to see just how much of a title contender they really were – and if it’s possible for a team that finished in such a disappointing way to actually be celebrated for overachieving, not underachieving.

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Filed Under: CBB, Uncategorized Tagged With: e'twaun moore, florida gators, jajuan johnson, Purdue Basketball, Robbie Hummel

Are the Purdue Boilermakers the most underrated college basketball program in America?

February 28, 2011 By Jerod Morris 42 Comments

Before I begin this post, I believe the following disclaimer is necessary for those of you who are not familiar with my staunch college basketball allegiances: I am a die-hard, born and raised, bleed Cream & Crimson Indiana fan. Thus, I hate Purdue basketball. I’ve hated Purdue basketball for as long as I can remember, and I will go to my grave hating Purdue basketball and wishing for them to lose every single game that they play.

Got it? There is no gray area. Just Cream and Crimson, which means no gold and black. None. Ever.

With that said, there is also a pretty definitive line between hate and respect – or at least there is as I define them within the context of sports. As I’ve gotten older, and I like to think a little wiser and more objective, my hate for Purdue basketball has never waned; however, my respect for their program has grown.

And so, while watching the Boilermakers dismantle Michigan State in the Breslin Center this weekend, the following thought occurred to me: is there any basketball program in America as underrated as Purdue?

Normally, I would simply dismiss any thought that was laudatory of Purdue, but considering the unusual circumstances of the last three seasons – IU being terrible and Purdue being, well, outstanding – I figure if I’m going ever to explore such a question, now is the time. So hold your nose and come along with me as I go north ’til I smell it and west ’til I step in to explain why college basketball fans, in general, underrate the *ugh* pretty damn successful basketball history tucked away in West Lafayette.

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Filed Under: Big Ten Basketball, CBB Tagged With: CBB, gene keady, Purdue Basketball

Duke hoops = still overrated?

January 24, 2011 By AJ Kaufman 11 Comments

Yessir.

As of today’s NCAA Coaches Poll, the Blue Devils have not beaten a single ranked team…yet are still ranked #3. That places them ahead of undefeated, unheralded San Diego State, among other squads with more quality wins.

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Filed Under: CBB Tagged With: duke basketball, Purdue Basketball

(Mostly) Midwest Hoops update

January 10, 2011 By AJ Kaufman Leave a Comment

With college football’s painfully prolonged season ending tonight, and 75% of the NFL now on vacation, college basketball — which actually began two months ago — now finally takes center stage, especially here in the Midwest, where many storylines are intriguing:

Sweet 16: Purdue-Duke Preview and Prediction

March 21, 2010 By Jerod Morris 3 Comments

duke-purdue-tickets-preview-sweet-16-spread-tip-time-date-location-prediction

Wow…well how ’bout them Boilermakers, who just may be the first #4 seed that has surprised most observers by doing…what they should do (based on their seed): make the Sweet 16.

With Robbie Hummel injured, many experts predicted Purdue to lose in round one to Siena. Once the Boilermakers got past that game, most expected them to succumb to a Texas A&M team that has been playing very well. (For the record, I picked Purdue to make it this far.)

However, led by ferocious, Hummel-esque productivity from Chris Kramer, plus terrific and timely interior defense by JaJuan Johnson, the Boilermakers won in overtime to set up a Sweet 16 battle with the Duke Blue Devils in Houston.

Let’s take a look at will undoubtedly be a tough, physical, probably ugly game between two very good teams.

Big Day Beckons for the Big Ten

March 19, 2010 By Jerod Morris 3 Comments

As mentioned in the NCAA Tournament Friday TV Schedule I just posted, today is a big day for the Big Ten. All five Big Ten teams that made the 2010 Big Dance play their first round games this afternoon and evening.

The conference has been much maligned in recent years, yet has a tremendous opportunity to assert itself with a strong first round performance. All the Big Ten needs to do is the exact opposite of what the Big East did yesterday.

The mighty Big East, renowned as the best conference in the nation, saw purported powerhouse Georgetown, along with Notre Dame and Marquette, go down in first round Thursday action. The conference’s lone winner, Villanova, needed some friendly officiating to escape being only the fifth #2 seed in history to lose in the first round.

The Big East still has teams like Syracuse and Pitt to play today, but a strong showing by the Big Ten’s Big Five today would obviously help the conference look much better in comparison.

Let’s quickly break down the schedule, assess what Big Ten fans should expect their conference today, and analyze why this is yet another day for Indiana fans to pull their hair out and lament what was…and what could have been.

NCAA Tournament Opening Round Friday TV Schedule

March 19, 2010 By Jerod Morris Leave a Comment

I hope you put the roughly 12 hours between the end of last night’s games and the tip off of today’s games to good use.

Like to take a deep, deep breath in preparation for today. If it is anything like yesterday, you better brace yourself for some incredible action.

From Old Dominion’s upset victory over Notre Dame, to Murray State’s buzzer beating win over Vanderbilt, to Ohio’s shocking upset of Big East tournament champion Georgetown, to Wake Forest’s last second victory over Texas, and more…yesterday was quite possibly the most exciting, drama-filled first day in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

So what does the opening round Friday schedule have in store for us? Let’s break it down.

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Filed Under: CBB, March Madness, TV and Betting Tagged With: march madness 2010, ncaa tournament, Purdue Basketball

March Madness Upsets: Breaking Down the 5-12 Matchups, Plus Other Potential Bracket Busters

March 15, 2010 By Jerod Morris 4 Comments

ncaa-tournament-upset-picks-5-12-matchups

Right near the top of anyone’s list for why they love the NCAA Tournament is inevitable upsets that happen every year. Some years upsets are plentiful. Other years, like last year, chalk reigns more often than not.

While there is no perfect way to predict where upsets will come from (this is why they are considered upsets, after all) there are specific criteria you can look for when trying to locate which matchups are more favorable for upsets than others.

In this post, I’ll explain the criteria I use to pick upsets, then break down the 5-12 matchups, which is where most upsets come from, as well as analyze this year’s other potential bracket busters.

Robbie Hummel Injury Disappointing Even to IU Fans

February 25, 2010 By Jerod Morris 7 Comments

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Unfortunate update – 10/16/10: Robbie Hummel has torn his ACL again and will miss the entire 2010-11 season.

Purdue is currently in the midst of its greatest basketball season since Gene Keady the Big Dog led the Boilers to a #1 ranking, a #1 seed, and, sadly for Boiler fans, an ignominious early exit in the early 90s. In fact, the 3rd ranked Boilers are having one of the best regular seasons in the history of their school.

That such a season is occurring during some of the darkest days in the proud tradition of IU basketball might lead you to believe that Hoosier fans are desperately rooting for anything to knock the Boilers off of their current pedestal.

And you’d be right. We are…just not an injury. And certainly not an injury to one of more underrated players to play college basketball over the last half decade.

Unfortunately, harkening memories that IU fans are all too familiar with, Purdue forward Robbie Hummel left last night’s Boilermaker victory over Minnesota with an apparent knee injury, possibly a torn ACL.

Seth Davis Just Made Me Cry

February 22, 2010 By Jerod Morris 1 Comment

Skimmed through Seth Davis’ new article at SI.com today in which he provides scouting reports on the “top teams” in America. Being completely Big Ten-centric, I skimmed right to where the teams I am interested were discussed.

That’s when I read this and my eyes started to well up with tears of sorrow and angst :

They’re so good because no matter what, they can run that motion offense. On defense they get up on you, they pressure you.

Why did this make me cry, you might be wondering?

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Filed Under: CBB Tagged With: indiana basketball, Purdue Basketball, seth davis

Purdue-Ohio State Preview: Thad Matta and the Buckeyes Look to Hold off Surging Boilers

February 17, 2010 By BetOnline 2 Comments

The Purdue Boilermakers started out their Big Ten campaign with just two wins in their first five conference games. Since then, they have been significantly better though, racking up a crisp and clean seven-game winning streak.

In that time, Purdue has topped a few quality outfits, including a recent two-point win at the Breslin Center over a Top 25 team in Michigan State.

While Purdue’s shooting seems to come and go, mostly depending on whether they are at home or on the road, one thing that remains constant is their defense. In their most recent two games against Michigan State and Iowa, the Boilermakers held their competition to just 31% shooting from the field and just 12-of-43 from three-point range.

While the Boilermakers have been hot, they will still be looking to avenge a previous loss from earlier this year on Wednesday. The Boilermakers lost 70-66 at home to Ohio State earlier in the year, which dropped them to 2-2 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers blew a 13-point lead with seven minutes remaining only to lose by four.

Blowing big leads has been an issue for Purdue and they’ll have to play much better to beat Ohio State on the road.

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Filed Under: CBB Tagged With: CBB, ohio state basketball, Purdue Basketball, thad matta

Photo Hilarity: Now That’s What I Call a ‘Cock Block’

January 21, 2010 By Jerod Morris 4 Comments

etwaun-moore-demetri-mccamey-crotch-grab-photo

Purdue snapped a three game losing streak earlier this week when the Boilermakers beat Illinois in Champaign. In the process, Boiler guard E’Twaun Moore lent further proof to the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.

He also gave us today’s edition of Photo Hilarity of the Day.

As you can see, Moore clearly has taken to Matt Painter’s credo of playing tough, physical defense. Demetri McCamey of the Fighting Illini, however, is probably wishing that Moore’s defense didn’t involve E’Twaun grabbing (or tickling, not exactly sure…he is from Purdue after all) McCamey in his twig and berries while the Illinois guard attempts a jump shot.

MSF Podcast: Talking Big Ten Basketball with Seth Davis

January 20, 2010 By Jerod Morris 2 Comments

Earlier this afternoon I had the pleasure of recording a podcast with Seth Davis, college basketball writer for SI.com and studio analyst for CBS Sports.

And let me just say right off the bat for all the IU fans out there: you will be encouraged by what Seth has to say about Tom Crean and the future of IU basketball.

We also discuss fans storming the court, Purdue’s viability as a Final Four contender, Ohio State’s ceiling with a healthy Evan Turner, and whether or not this is finally the year that Northwestern makes the NCAA Tournament.

Have a listen.

Everything I Loathe About Purdue Expressed In One Exuberantly Turdly Song

December 30, 2009 By Jerod Morris 11 Comments

Over the Christmas holiday, KVB sent me a link via email. The subject line said, very simply: “unbelievable”

Little did I know just how “unbelievable” the contents of his email would turn out to be.

What KVB sent me was a video with the exquisite title GiveBackCompressed.mov. Clearly the title was meant to be, simply: Give Back. However, the genius who uploaded the video decided it would be a good idea to use the filename of the web version as the YouTube title. Or he/she was just careless.

Either way, it’s perfectly appropriate.

And douchy.

And after you watch the video, you’ll know why “douchy” is a perfectly apt description for this 4-minute, 36-second commercial for why Purdue sucks.

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Filed Under: Funny Tagged With: give back purdue video, Purdue Basketball, purdue sucks, purdue university

Quick Poll: ‘This is Indiana’ v ‘Boiler Up’

For Purdue basketball, is it “Boiler Down” after disappointing end to 2011? Not This Year.

Are the Purdue Boilermakers the most underrated college basketball program in America?

Duke hoops = still overrated?

(Mostly) Midwest Hoops update

Sweet 16: Purdue-Duke Preview and Prediction

[Read more...]

Big Day Beckons for the Big Ten

NCAA Tournament Opening Round Friday TV Schedule

[Read more...]

March Madness Upsets: Breaking Down the 5-12 Matchups, Plus Other Potential Bracket Busters

[Read more...]

Robbie Hummel Injury Disappointing Even to IU Fans

Seth Davis Just Made Me Cry

Purdue-Ohio State Preview: Thad Matta and the Buckeyes Look to Hold off Surging Boilers

Photo Hilarity: Now That’s What I Call a ‘Cock Block’

MSF Podcast: Talking Big Ten Basketball with Seth Davis

Everything I Loathe About Purdue Expressed In One Exuberantly Turdly Song

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