As always, bragging rights in the state are on the line Tuesday night in Bloomington.

But for rivals Purdue and Indiana, the outcome holds even more meaning because of the implications of a victory. Most importantly, the winner will vault into sole possession of 2nd place in the Big Ten, sitting in a prime position behind league-leading Wisconsin, although there are many, many more games to be decided in the next month and a half.  The Boilermakers want to keep pace with the Badgers, while the Hoosiers want to build momentum — and pick up a marquee victory — after what has been a topsy-turvy start to the season.

There’s a lot on the line. Let’s break down more of what Tuesday’s game means for each of the state’s Big Ten programs:

Purdue

Widely considered the team to beat in the Big Ten, the Boilermakers are eyeing a 2nd straight regular-season conference title. Yet through the 1st quarter of the schedule, they already find themselves 2 games in the loss column behind Wisconsin, which has won its 1st 5 league games.

A 3rd defeat might not be devastating to Purdue’s pursuit, but it’d represent a significant hill for the Boilermakers (15-2 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) to climb in their effort to repeat. The Badgers seemingly have a favorable schedule in their last 15 games, especially having already won 2 of their more challenging road games (at Michigan State and at Ohio State). They benefit by avoiding a road game at Illinois, a likely top-4 finisher in the conference. But Wisconsin does still play Purdue twice, including the regular-season finale at Mackey Arena. While there’s much to be decided between now and early March, if Wisconsin ends Tuesday night (the Badgers are a favorite at Penn State) with a 3-game edge in the loss column, it’ll mark a significant advantage in winning at least a share of the title.

But that’s not it for the Boilermakers, who also want to extinguish a growing trend of negative results on the road. Purdue has lost 2 of its 3 road games in the Big Ten this season, falling at Northwestern on Dec. 1 before being blitzed by hot-shooting Nebraska last Tuesday. Adding in the end of last season, and the Boilermakers have won only 2 of their past 7 conference road games, a mark that runs afoul of their performances in Mackey Arena and in neutral-site games.

If Purdue is to be the dominate team that many hope, then it must not only be able to take care of business in Mackey Arena but away from there, and Assembly Hall should provide quite the challenge. The Boilermakers have lost 2 straight in Bloomington, each as a top-5 team in the country; they’re ranked No. 2 in the latest AP Top 25.

Indiana

Indiana’s overall record looks solid — the Hoosiers are 12-5, including a 4-2 mark in the Big Ten — but it’s in serious need of quality, NCAA résumé-building victories. Purdue would definitely qualify.

The Hoosiers come into Tuesday night’s game with a Net Ranking of only 97, significantly lower than typical NCAA Tournament qualifier. The problem has been quality wins; IU has only 2 Quad 2 victories (and none in Q1), with 10 of its 12 wins against teams in the Quads 3 and 4. Indiana has faced 4 teams in the top quadrant, but the results largely been ugly, with a 20-point loss to UConn and a 28-point defeat to Auburn. But the Hoosiers played Kansas close at home on Dec. 16 before falling by 4.

Indiana is in the midst of an important 5-game stretch that will help determine whether it can make a push toward the NCAA Tournament. It lost at Rutgers, but it rebounded with a convincing victory over Minnesota, which stands as only a Q3 win as of now. It has Purdue at home Tuesday before a challenging road trip with back-to-back away games at Wisconsin and Illinois.

IU hopes that it found some answers, particularly in the backcourt, vs. the Gophers on Friday. With senior Xavier Johnson coming off the bench following his flagrant 2 foul against the Scarlet Knights, Trey Galloway took over some of the ball-handling duties, and the Hoosiers seemed more functional at the guard position. But that’ll be tested against a solid Purdue backcourt of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Lance Jones.