While much was made of Duke's preseason trip to England and the amount the Blue Devils benefited from it, there may be no team in the country that got more out of a foreign trip this summer than Purdue.

After going 13-18 overall and 5-11 in the Big Ten last season, Keady and his staff knew there was work to be done not only in Europe, but at home, to bring back the toughness that Purdue has been known for for most of the past two decades.

	No longer soft, Gene Keady made sure his intensity filtered down to his latest group of Boilermakers.

Normally, Keady's team plays a style that mirrors Purdue's hard hat-wearing, sledgehammer-swinging mascot. But last season, the Boilermakers weren't blue collar and it was a tossup whether they even worked hard enough to be white collar.

Simply put, they were soft. They didn't guard. They didn't rebound. They drove their coach crazy.

Sure guard Willie Deane lead the league in scoring, but Purdue also didn't win a league road game.

"It was terrible," Purdue guard Kenneth Lowe said. "We had no chemistry and we didn't play as hard as we could."

Keady blames himself and his staff for the fall off. While the toughness and hard-nosed play had been passed along from class to class during his tenure -- "like a family will,'' he says -- the mantra had somehow gotten lost.

That changed when the team gathered last spring for pre-trip practices. There was more intensity. There was a greater emphasis placed on defense. And there were consequences when players didn't perform.

You don't want to guard? Then you won't play. Don't want stay in a defensive stance? Don't want to scrap for rebounds? Then why don't you run to the top of Mackey Arena.

Lowe said the practices were harder than any he'd been through since he arrived in West Lafayette. And Keady? Lowe said he was the most intense he's ever seen him. Considering what Keady looks like during every Boilermaker game, he must have looked as if his head was going to explode.

The games on the foreign trip almost didn't matter. What mattered was that toughness was no longer optional in the Boilermakers basketball program.

The result? The Boilermakers are ranked for the first time since the end of the 1999-2000 season and lead the Big Ten with a 7-1 record. On Wednesday night, Purdue jumped all over Wisconsin, going on an 18-1 spurt to start the game and led by as many as 26 points in the first half.

Yeah, the Boilermakers are for real and Purdue is certainly in the drivers seat for its first league title since 1996.

As important as the foreign trip was for the Boilermakers, the lessons in toughness continued early this season. While Keady didn't reach John Chaney-like levels in trying to instill discipline, the Boilermakers started the season by practicing daily at 7 a.m.

When Keady had made his point and was willing to go back to afternoon workouts after the semester break, the players wanted to keep going in the morning. They wanted to prove that they were tough.

The other difference is that class doesn't mean what it once did in the Purdue program. For most of Keady's tenure, being a senior meant you were going to get both playing time and the benefit of the doubt. Sure he played younger guys, but the tie certainly went to the more experienced player.

Before this season, Keady was up front with his players. Playing time was going to be earned in practice and it would have nothing to do with one's year in school. The result is more competitive practices.

Back in November, the Boilermakers weren't mentioned much in Big Ten conversations. Indiana had reached the national title game, Michigan State was the league favorite and Illinois had its usual boatload of talent. Other people were infatuated with Minnesota and forward Rick Rickert while others pegged Ohio State as an upper division team.

Purdue? It was almost as if the Boilermakers had become an afterthought.

Even early in the season it was difficult to gauge how much Purdue had changed. While the Boilermakers defeated Louisville (which, by the way, is still the Cardinals' only loss), there was a double-digit loss at Xavier, a non-conference loss to Indiana in Indianapolis, and a loss to Arizona State. Was Purdue any better? Well, the tough-to-please Keady still didn't think his team was good enough. With Keady always leaning toward the glass-half-empty side of things it was difficult to really know.

But since the beginning of Big Ten play, it's clear that Purdue is improved. The Boilermakers have done the things the good Purdue teams of the past have done. They're guarding (only one Big Ten team has scored more than 75 points on them), they're winning games on the road (only team with a winning road record in the league).

"We're a little happy, but we're not satisfied," Lowe said before Wednesday's 78-60 victory over to Wisconsin.

Lowe's return after missing last season with a shoulder injury is a factor in Purdue's improvement that can't be undervalued. The junior from Gary, Ind., is a player who can't be measured by just statistics. He's more valuable than simple numbers (see: Brian Cardinal intangibles in a guard's body).

"I thought if he was around last year, they would've done similar things to what they're doing this year," Iowa coach Steve Alford said. "I just think he's that good. We did a good job controlling him, but he's such a fierce competitor, a great leader. He's one of those guys who can score 20 and beat you or he can score seven and beat you because of the influence he has on his teammates."

Keady raves about Lowe. In addition to being the team's best defender, he also plays some minutes at point guard in each game. Keady also calls him the Boilermakers heart and soul.

The improved play of the Boilermakers is certainly pleasing to Keady, especially after the frustrations of last season. That was when he talked of considering retirement if things didn't turn around.

"I don't want to have that feeling again," Keady said. "I don't like that feeling. It was a long season."

Games of the Week

Michigan State at Indiana Saturday The shoe is certainly on the other foot in this one. After a disastrous start to league play, the Spartans have remained afloat with consecutive victories over Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. While Tom Izzo's team attempts to take another step toward the Big Ten's first division, Indiana faces a must-win situation on the heels of four straight losses. Oklahoma State at Cincinnati Sunday Who needs a clock? First one to 50 wins. This will not be a game for the timid, as both teams play extremely hard-nosed defense. The Cowboys, however, have been more consistent offensively of late. Northern Illinois at Kent State Saturday The Huskies have emerged as the biggest surprise in the MAC this season. But are they a legitimate title contender? They will be if they can beat the Golden Flashes. Detroit at Wis.-Milwaukee Thursday While Butler still holds the upper hand for the regular-season Horizon League title, the Panthers are only a half-game out of the league lead and certainly not out of the race. Illinois-Chicago at Butler Saturday Sure Butler gets all of the love in the Horizon, but it was Jimmy Collins' Flames that won the Horizon tournament last season and played in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs will be favored as the game's at Hinkle Fieldhouse, but a UIC victory wouldn't be completely shocking either. Oklahoma at Texas Monday Forget Friends, Must See TV has moved to Big Monday. Now we're not guaranteeing another buzzer-beater, but the game between the Sooners and Texas -- who have both lost close Big Monday games in the past month -- should be tremendous with Hollis Price and T.J. Ford going at each other.

Big 12's Messed-Up Middle
Sure, watching races for conference championships is interesting. But so too is watching to see if teams in the bottom of the power conferences can move a step closer to the NCAA Tournament.

Case in point: the Big 12. With Texas Tech opening league play slower than expected -- the Red Raiders are 3-4 in the Big 12 after Wednesday night's victory over Nebraska -- several teams look capable of moving into the league's upper division.

Colorado, which has recent victories over Kansas and Texas, and Texas A&M are both tied for sixth in Big 12 standings.

"I think it's somewhat of a cluster right now," K-State coach Jim Wooldridge said. "The teams that were picked to finish in the lower part of the league, I think, are all pretty good basketball teams in their own right."

The Buffaloes are certainly making the most noise, beating both Texas and Kansas in Boulder. Against the Longhorns, Colorado scored the final 13 points of the game. In both of the Buffs' upsets at the Coors Events Center, they got production from their big three of Stephane Pelle, Michel Morandais and David Harrison.

"I think it's still realistic at this point," Colorado coach Ricardo Patton said of his team's NCAA Tournament chances. "Not only for us, but for a lot of teams."

Earlier this week, Buffaloes AD Dick Tharp told Colorado reporters that he has not given Patton an ultimatum of reaching the tournament to keep his job.

Will they make it? They certainly appear to be in better shape than before the season.

Around the Midwest
The Big Ten coaches are making a significant amount of noise about the league schedule, specifically about playing three consecutive games on the road. Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State and Penn State all have played, or will play, three consecutive games on the road.

The Buckeyes actually have two three-game road stretches this season.

For the most part, the Big Ten coaches understand the occassional quick turnaround between games because of television, but they don't understand other parts of the way the league office schedules.

"I don't think you should ever play three consecutive road games or three consecutive home games," Iowa coach Steve Alford said. "I would hope there is a better way to have a better balance to it."

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been extremely outspoken about the league schedule after his team played four of its first six league games on the road.

"As everybody is finding out, it's difficult to play on the road," Izzo said. "A lot of teams that have started out good have played at home."

While Illinois is currently in the mix in the Big Ten, the Illini have as tough of a schedule down the stretch as any team in the league. Why? They only face Penn State and Northwestern -- teams that have combined for one league victory -- only once each.

Around the Midwest