Purdue Picked to Finish Last in Multiple Big Ten Football Preseason Polls
As far as the media is concerned, the expectations couldn't be lower for Purdue entering the 2024 college football season. The Boilermakers are projected to finish dead last in multiple preseason polls this year.
Purdue is picked to finish 18th in the conference in both the USA Today Big Ten preseason poll and the Cleveland.com Big Ten preseason poll (full preseason poll below). The league jumps from 14 to 18 teams this year with the addition of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
The Boilermakers are coming off a 4-8 season in 2023, Ryan Walters' first year as the the leader of the program. High roster turnover and a challenging schedule have probably led voters to believe Purdue will struggle in the upcoming season.
But the doubt is nothing new. In the spring, Walters said his team is using the negativity as fuel as the Boilers prepare for the upcoming season.
“Coaches, players, you know old and new players alike, you know everybody’s got a chip on their shoulder. We all went 4-and-8 a year ago," Walters told WLFI in March.
"And guys in the portal, like they were in the portal for a reason, and they got something to prove as well. And as much as we don’t pay attention to social media and stuff like that you still hear it. And you still hear ‘18-out-of-18.’ So of course we have a chip on our shoulder.”
Walters will speak at Big Ten Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis at 12:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 23. Coverage of the event will be available on Big Ten Network.
Linebacker Kydran Jenkins, quarterback Hudson Card and center Gus Hartwig will also attend the event this year.
USA Today Big Ten preseason poll
- Ohio State Buckeyes (8 votes)
- Oregon Ducks (5 votes)
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- MIchigan Wolverines
- USC Trojans
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Washington Huskies
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Maryland Terrapins
- Michigan State Spartans
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- UCLA Bruins
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Northwestern Wildcats
- Purdue Boilermakers
Cleveland.com Big Ten preseason poll
- Ohio State Buckeyes (21 votes)
- Oregon Ducks (6 votes)
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Michigan Wolverines
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- USC Trojans
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Washington Huskies
- Maryland Terrapins
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Northwestern Wildcats
- UCLA Bruins
- Michigan State Spartans
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Purdue Boilermakers
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