PHILADELPHIA — 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.
SO FAR, SO GOOD
Yes, this is Purdue's best shot at the Final Four in some time — and keep in mind, they were an eyelash from it a whopping two NCAA Tournaments ago — and not just because Kentucky and Baylor got the boot, but because the Boilermakers seem to be actualizing their ceiling.
Throughout the Big Ten season, I think they were haunted by their potential, the standard they set by winning the Connecticut event, but there was often a disconnect, easily explainable through the differences that come with Big Ten play.
In this rough-and-tumble conference, the most talented team doesn't always win. The team that takes care of the basketball and defends generally does, when talent is at least comparable. Purdue's strengths weren't as easily leveraged in Big Ten play, because their vulnerabilities were more exposed. Twice, Wisconsin won tortoise-and-hare-type games and won the Big Ten with half the talent Purdue has.
Now, it's been just two games, but the whole thing seems to be coming together again now that Big Ten play has come and gone.
