The Top 10 of 2016-17: The Big Ten title

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GoldandBlack.com is running down its top 10 stories of the past year in Purdue athletics, a particularly loaded year.

In most any other year, a signature sport like men's basketball rallying in the home stretch of a season to win an outright Big Ten title would top this list and leave very little room for debate.

This year, on this one list, it comes in fifth, not because the accomplishment wasn't highly significant, but solely because of the competition.

Regardless of this inconsequential ranking, Purdue finished off one of the finest seasons it's posted in its modern era by finishing strong and winning the conference by two games, despite trailing then-league-leading Wisconsin by two games at the end of January following a maddening loss at Nebraska, a game that served, in effect, as the turning point of the Boilermakers' season.

Purdue closed the Big Ten season winning eight of nine while Wisconsin and Maryland slipped up considerably, resulting in the Boilermakers' league-leading 23rd regular season title, clinching a share of the crown at home on senior night against rival IU in what was one of most memorable nights in Mackey Arena's now-50-year history.

— Brian Neubert

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