There is one case where Purdue’s Big Ten Tournament standings are simple: if Purdue beats Illinois, it will get a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

Purdue is one of three current Big Ten teams with six losses in the conference. Michigan adds another potential team as it has 5 losses in the conference and a final game at Michigan State to finish the season. That means at the end of the weekend, four Big Ten teams could be left with six losses. None of the teams below Michigan State vying for a double-bye play each other. So all could win, all could lose, or any mix of the two.

Illinois has less to battle for in the Big Ten Tournament. It can move up or down a spot or two, but it’ll be in line for a single game bye win or lose.

But Illinois has plenty to play for with its seeding. After a decent start to the season, Illinois has been plagued with injuries, illnesses, and inconsistent play. Illinois got back on track in its last game by beating Michigan on the road, 93-73, but it projects around the 8-9 seed currently which means a second round game, most likely, against a one seed.

A win against Purdue could be worth half a seed, and thrown in with a positive run in the Big Ten Tournament, and Illinois could find itself improving its stock in the final two weeks of the season.

Even if there weren’t a bunch of post-season implications, this is a fascinating matchup of styles. Illinois is one of the nation’s best offensive rebounding teams. Purdue’s struggled on the glass at times this year. Illinois is also one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country.

Purdue will bring the #1 offense in the Big Ten to Champaign where it won at last year in dramatic fashion.

Matt Painter was watching Illinois take it to Michigan on Sunday. Illinois dominated the glass, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds on the way to throttling the Wolverines 93-73 on the road.

Painter said you always pay a bit more attention to what the team did in its last game, and that means for Purdue, it has to really concentrate on the rebounding battle with one of the best rebounding teams in the country. Illinois isn’t just big inside, it uses its advantages all over the roster to attack the glass.

“In lieu of everything,” Painter said about the way Illinois dominates the glass. “Their quickness got a lot of rebounds, but their physicalness at all positions. A lot of times you don’t see that across the board… but they have really good positional size, strength, and quickness across the board. Their guards get on the boards, their forwards, obviously their centers.”

Purdue’s lack of size and interior presence has been a problem for most the season. Not only on the glass, but with Purdue’s primary big men, Calebu Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn, getting too caught up in scrums going for rebounds and getting in foul trouble. Kaufman-Renn has a strong history against Illinois, including a season-high 23 point performance against them last season, but he’s been foul prone in Big Ten play for Purdue.

Illinois is grabbing 36.1% of their misses, a number that’s inflated by the fact that Illinois is one of the most prolific three-point shooting teams in the country while also being one of the least efficient teams at shooting threes.

That will make for a fascinating matchup for both teams. Purdue would love if Illinois stays on the perimeter. Purdue is allowing teams to shoot just 30.5% from three – just .3% below what Illinois shoots as a team. That’s the 26th best mark in the country for Purdue’s defense. That’s the 323rd best shooting percentage in the country for Illinois.

But Purdue has been one of the worst teams at defending inside the arc, something Illinois does very well. Illinois is making 57.4% from two (14th best mark) and Purdue is giving up 56% from inside the arc (337th best mark).

But execution has not been Illinois’ strengths this season and Purdue has had flashes of effective defense that usually features turning teams over, something Illinois with its fast pace is prone to do.

This could be an important game for Purdue’s individual efforts. With Braden Smith and Wisconsin’s John Tonje locked into a back and forth player of the year race – it’s probably still Smith’s to win though Purdue’s four game losing streak that saw a two game struggle for Smith brought Tonje back into the mix.

Tonje and his Badgers will get a final game against Penn State at home on Saturday.

Tonje goes into the game averaging 19.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists on 47.1% field goal percentage and 38.2% from three.

Braden Smith is at 16.3 points a game, 4.5 rebounds, 8.7 assists, and 2.4 steals a game on 44.6% field goal shooting and 40.6% from three.

There’s probably a stronger than been discussed argument that Trey Kaufman-Renn is closer in the player of the year award than admitted because he shares the same team as the pre-season pick. TKR is leading the Big Ten in scoring 19.4 points per game, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists on 61.5% shooting from the floor.

Rule of thumb personally is if a player is going to finish breaking the assist per game record in all of the Big Ten, held by none other than Magic Johnson, he gets my vote for player of the year. A strong game and win against Illinois might take any other doubts out of play for Braden Smith.