The Weekly Word is GoldandBlack.com's weekly, obviously, column covering Purdue football, basketball and recruiting, as well as college sports issues, the true meaning of life, or whatever other topics might come to mind in a given week.
ONE OF PURDUE'S FIRST CHALLENGES
Purdue's going to open this season to come with the best kind of burden to bear, but a burden nonetheless, that of sky-high expectations.
It's one of the many experiences to come this season for a roster that's been through so little, all told, most of these guys having never played a normal college basketball season, let alone one like the one that tips off in a few weeks.
Suffice to say, Purdue's going to need to demonstrate some maturity and consistency of personality in taking nothing for granted, but also the sort of constance one might need when — to take a stroll down Cliché Lane here — you're gonna get every team's best shot each time out.
There's no easing into this, either.
This is one of those regular seasons for Purdue where what matters most are two things: A Big Ten championship and NCAA Tournament seeding.
To the latter point, every game matters, a lot. When you get North Carolina in Connecticut, that can't be a learning experience, like Marquette and Miami have been the past two seasons. It can be a learning experience for the Tar Heels, but Purdue needs to go into that game like the wolf, not the sheep.
Those games matter too much.
