Welcome to Monday. Time to skip town with Purdue graduation ceremonies happening this weekend.

—Tuesday’s Purdue baseball matchup at Ball State is canceled. No makeup date. Curious if the Boilermakers add a game against another opponent, one that has a better RPI. This happens a lot late in the season as Power 4 programs look to improve their “body work” to impress the selection committee.

The NCAA sent an email telling coaches that canceling games, other than for weather reasons, is a concern for the sport’s oversight committee. Coaches are trying to manipulate the metrics and data as much as possible. In this case, Purdue is better off not playing since its RPI will drop, regardless of the outcome.

Otherwise, it’s off to Iowa for a three-game series starting Thursday.

—Purdue continued its late-season surge, sweeping Indiana for the first time since 2011. Since the last three-game sweep, the Boilermakers were 9-22 against the Hoosiers and Greg Goff never experienced this type of success against the rival in-state program. IU has simply been better. But Purdue was better over the weekend and continues to push toward a bye in the Big Ten tournament and remain alive for an NCAA berth. The final conference series starts Thursday against Iowa in Des Moines at the Iowa Cubs stadium. I’ll have more later in the week on the main site as to why the series is being played outside of Iowa City.

—As Saturday’s game was unfolding and the Boilermakers were on the verge being shutout for the first time this season and the first time in one year. On the same date. The last time Purdue didn’t score was on May 9, 2025 against Indiana. However, the five-run rally in the ninth made that distinction irrelevant. Maybe Purdue can avoid the Hoosiers on that date in the future.

—If the Big Ten tournament started today - and to be clear, it doesn’t - how would the 12-team field look? It’s a new format. The top four teams receive a bye into the single elimination bracket and other eight teams battle it out in a double elimination scenario after seeded in pods.

May 19

Game 1: No. 5 Purdue vs. No. 12 Rutgers/Minnesota or Washington

Game 2: No. 8 Illinois vs. No. 9 Iowa

Game 3: No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Rutgers/Minnesota or Washington)

Game 4: No. 6 Michigan vs. No. 11 Rutgers/Minnesota or Washington

May 20

Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (Winner advances to play No. 4 seed Oregon)

Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (Winner advances to play No. 2 seed Nebraska)

May 21

Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7 (Winner advances to play No. 1 UCLA)

Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8 (Winner advances to play No. 4 USC)

The quarterfinals (May 22), semifinals (May 23) and championship (May 24) rounds are single elimination.

There’s a big advantage waiting until the quarterfinals to play. Teams can use their No. 1 pitcher against a team’s No. 3 or another lower-level starter. Teams seeded 5-12 will likely burn through their better pitchers just to advance.

Purdue can move into the top four, but will need to win at least two out of three against Iowa and finish ahead of USC or Oregon. The Boilermakers are tied with the Ducks and trail the Trojans by one game. Oregon and USC play a three-game series this weekend. If one of the teams win all three games, it would help Purdue’s chances of moving up.

—Is this the week Katie Gearlds adds to the 2026-27 roster? Purdue currently has 13 players and Gearlds has two open spots. But does she need 15 players? Hard to manage trying to juggle playing time for 15.

If there’s a impact player out there, go for it but how many difference makers remain in the portal? Graduate transfers can enter the portal at any time and there might be a handful who could be available. But adding players at this stage is just filling out the roster to fill out the roster. More international players could be available, but Purdue tried recently and didn’t have success.

Plus, how much in revenue-sharing money does Gearlds have left to offer? Why pay a player just to practice when the program has suffered three straight losing seasons? It’s probably time to wrap this up and figure out how to generate wins out of the 2026-27 team.