Corn Flakes: Big Ten Baseball Weekend!

Another Big Ten baseball weekend.

This weekend Nebraska is set to battle Purdue... AT Haymarket Park! Yesterday, Haymarket was flooded!

Nebraska Athletic Department

But today:

Not sure why everyone was looking for backup options. pic.twitter.com/Fgaq9D75ld

— Darin Erstad (@Dstad17) May 8, 2015

Huge S/O to Josh Klute and his grounds crew and Eric Haynes and his staff. Amazing effort the last 24 hours. Just unreal.

— Darin Erstad (@Dstad17) May 8, 2015

The weekend weather forecast shows no rain Friday, 20% Saturday, and 50% Sunday.

Purdue is at the far bottom of the conference, having only won two games. Nebraska, at 8-10, needs the wins to make the NCAA tournament. Boyds World shows Nebraska's RPI at #27. (Purdue is at #195. Even with wins, Nebraska's RPI will drop. It might have been better had this game been played at Hastings, which could count as a neutral site game and weigh 1.0, instead of at home, which weighs .7)

Unfortunately, RPI doesn't matter much if Nebraska is below .500 in conference play. They're only going to take so many Big Ten teams, and it's coming down to who's winning these last few to get in.

Nebraska's RPI dropped pretty substantially playing Northwestern last weekend.

Sorenson: Off The Top Of My Head, May 8 - D1Baseball.com
- Nebraska, 33-17 The Drop: From No. 12 down to No. 27 Why It Hurts: Geez. The Big 10 can be volatile with disparity between the haves and have-nots. The Cornhuskers drop from No. 1 seed consideration after winning two of three at Northwestern.

Purdue is at the bottom of the conference in team batting (.250), second to last in team pitching (5.61 ERA), and 8th in fielding (.968).

The Boilers' starting pitchers have ERAs of 4.99, 7.41, and 7.45.

Illinois, the conference leader, plays at home against Rutgers while Iowa gets Minnesota at home - don't expect any changes in the top of the conference. Maryland and Ohio State will play a crucial series this weekend.

Maryland baseball: Preview of crucial series against Ohio State - Testudo Times
The Terps' post-season hopes will take a huge leap forward if they can take the series against Ohio State. But can they?

What Ohio State baseball can expect from Maryland: Q&A with Testudo Times - Land-Grant Holy Land
The Buckeyes and Terrapins were both swept at home last weekend. As the two sides take the field for the first time as conference opponents, we asked SB Nation's Testudo Times for some insight into the Terps.

All times (Eastern) and dates subject to change

Friday, May 8

• Penn State at Michigan State - 12:05 p.m.
• Northwestern at Michigan - 6 p.m. (BTN Plus)
• Long Beach State at Indiana - 6:05 p.m.
• Maryland at Ohio State - 6:35 p.m.
• Minnesota at Iowa - 7:05 p.m. (BTN Plus)
• Rutgers at Illinois - 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 9

• Northwestern at Michigan - Noon (BTN)
• Penn State at Michigan State - 12:05 p.m.
• Minnesota at Iowa - 3 p.m. (BTN Plus)
• Maryland at Ohio State - 3:05 p.m.
• Purdue at Nebraska - 3:05 p.m. (BTN Plus)
• Long Beach State at Indiana - 4 p.m.
• Rutgers at Illinois - 4 p.m.

Sunday, May 10

• Rutgers at Illinois - Noon
• Penn State at Michigan State - 12:05 p.m.
• Northwestern at Michigan - 1 p.m. (BTN Plus)
• Long Beach State at Indiana - 1:05 p.m.
• Maryland at Ohio State - 1:05 p.m.
• Minnesota at Iowa - 2 p.m. (BTN)
• Purdue at Nebraska - 2:05 p.m.

Monday, May 11

• Purdue at Nebraska - 2:05 p.m.