When the Big Ten reveals its all-conference team Monday night, Caleb Swanigan has to be Player of the Year. Right?

Few at Purdue seem think it'd make sense for any one other than Swanigan, the super sophomore who's averaged a double-double.

"No doubt. It shouldn’t even be debatable," teammate Vincent Edwards said. "He’s done everything he needs to do, in crucial possessions, in crucial moments of the season. He’s stepped up in big moments. I don’t think it’s questionable at all at this point. If he’s not Big Ten Player-of-the-Year, I’d be shocked."

Dakota Mathias gives a no-hesitation "no" when asked if there's a doubt Swanigan is the league's best player. Doesn't want to hear about Wisconsin's Ethan Happ (13.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg) or Maryland's Melo Trimble (16.9 ppg, 3.7 apg).

Swanigan finished the regular season Sunday against Northwestern with 20 points and 14 rebounds, his 25th double-double of the season, tied for the most in the nation in Division I. He's one double-double shy of the Big Ten record of 26 in a year held by two players. Sunday's effort was the eighth time this season Swanigan has had at 20 points and 10 rebounds, the most by a player since 2010-11.

For the season, Swanigan became the eighth player in league history to lead the league in scoring (18.9 ppg) and rebounding (12.6 rpg) in conference games. He scored in double-digits in every Big Ten game. His lowest rebound total was five in a loss at Michigan, but that was an aberration: His next-lowest rebound total was eight.

He, simply, was dominant.

"I think just the consistency at the level that he’s playing at," Mathias said of what impressed him the most about Swanigan's season. "Putting up those numbers four or five games, that’s pretty cool. But to put it up over a 30-game stretch is unheard of."

Though Swanigan set individual goals this season, he is defining everything through the lens of team success. So the fact Purdue just wrapped its first outright Big Ten championship since 1996 has him feeling good, knowing he was a major contributor to such an accomplishment.

Entering the season, Swanigan was intent to emphasize the importance of the team, and he said last week he feels like he did a better job of that this season, of "just making sure my mind is in the right place and it’s about winning games and playing hard and things like that."

That approach certainly has produced results for him and the Boilermakers.

And could help him add a special title Monday night.

Already, he's been named to three All-American teams, USA Today, Sporting News and NBC Sports. He's also been named an academic All-American — with a 3.3 GPA.

But is Swanigan the best player in the Big Ten?

"Um, yeah, I feel like I’m the best player for my team," he said last week.

And having that verified Monday night would be special, he said.

"It’d mean a lot, just for this team, for this program and just moving forward, it helps with a lot of momentum," said Swanigan, who'd be Purdue's first league Player-of-the-Year since JaJuan Johnson in 2011.

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