Quick Thoughts on Purdue's Schedule of Big Ten Opponents for the 2024-25 Basketball Season
The Big Ten didn't force basketball fans to wait long to get excited about next year. On Tuesday, the conference released the list of league opponents each team will face during the 2024-25 season. With the schedule being released, it gives us a chance to take an early look at what is on Purdue's plate from a conference standpoint.
Purdue is losing a lot from last year's Final Four squad. Zach Edey, Mason Gillis, Lance Jones and Ethan Morton are all departing from last year's team, which finished 34-5 and won a second consecutive Big Ten regular season title.
Matt Painter does return star guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, as well as big man Trey Kaufman-Renn. Myles Colvin and Caleb Furst are likely to see more playing time, and there's a good chance that highly-touted recruits Kanon Catchings and Gicarri Harris make quick impacts.
So, while the schedule has a lot to do with Purdue's pursuit of a third straight Big Ten title, it's worth reminding everyone that the roster will look vastly different in the 2024-25 season. Now that we've addressed that, here's a quick look at the Big Ten opponents, as well as a few quick thoughts.
Purdue's 2024-25 Big Ten opponents
Home-only opponents
- Maryland Terrapins
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Northwestern Wildcats
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- UCLA Bruins
- USC Trojans
- Wisconsin Badgers
Away-only opponents
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Michigan State Spartans
- Oregon Ducks
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Washington Huskies
Home-and-away opponents
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Michigan Wolverines
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Thoughts on Purdue's 2024-25 schedule
Revenge for the Boilermakers?
A quick look at the schedule and the first thing that stands out is that Purdue will have a chance to get some revenge on Nebraska, Northwestern and Ohio State. Last season, those were the only three teams to defeat the Boilermakers in the regular season. All of those were away games.
This season, Purdue will play Nebraska, Northwestern and Ohio State in home-only matchups. It gives the Boilermakers a shot at redemption — although they did defeat the Wildcats at Mackey Arena in the return game last season.
All three venues have proven to be tough places to play over the years for Purdue. So, avoiding Pinnacle Bank Arena, Welsh-Ryan Arena and Value City Arena seems like a win for the Boilers.
Toughest road game
It was tempting to mention Michigan State or Illinois, but Indiana is the answer to this question — at least for right now. Not only is Assembly Hall one of the top venues in college basketball, Mike Woodson has done some excellent roster construction through the transfer portal this offseason.
Indiana may have made the biggest splash in the transfer portal this offseason, adding Arizona's Oumar Ballo, who averaged 12.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game last season. They also added Washington State's Myles Rice and Stanford's Kanaan Carlyle — both averaged double-digits in scoring a season ago. Plus, Illinois' Luke Goode is also heading to Bloomington.
Rarely is it easy to get wins at Assembly Hall. And by the look of Indiana's roster next season, Purdue probably won't cruise to a win like it did last year.
Scariest home game
Keep an eye on Nebraska whenever it makes the journey to Mackey Arena. Like Woodson at Indiana, Fred Hoiberg has added a lot of talented pieces to his team via the transfer portal.
The Huskers added 7-footer Braxton Meah, as well as Wisconsin sharp-shooter Connor Essegian. They've also picked up a guard in Rollie Worster (Utah) and Rutgers wing Gavin Griffiths.
Nebraska is coming off a 23-11 season and will be looking to build off that success. The Huskers had some serious struggles outside of Pinnacle Bank Arena last year, but it will still be a team with the weapons to give Purdue a game, even at Mackey Arena.
Purdue and Indiana appear to be travel partners
It's not quite clear yet if the Big Ten will utilize travel partners for the men's college basketball season, but it sure looks that way. And, if that is the case, it appears as though Purdue and Indiana would be paired together, which ... makes perfect sense.
Both Purdue and Indiana have home-only games with UCLA and USC. The Boilers and Hoosiers both have away-only contests against Oregon and Washington. It only makes sense that, when the dates of the games are released, Purdue and Indiana will travel to the West Coast together for those two games.
Biggest bummer
Unfortunately, Purdue and Illinois will only meet once and the game is played in Champaign. The Boilers playing at State Farm Center isn't the disappointing part, it's that the two teams only play once.
While no team will ever trump Indiana as Purdue's biggest nemesis, Illinois has turned into a bit of a rivalry clash for both schools. Both the Boilermakers and Fighitng Illini have been near the top of the league each of the last four seasons, with Purdue winning two regular season crowns and Illinois claiming one.
Although both rosters will look different next season, this has been a fun matchup to see played in both arenas. It's unfortunate we won't see a home-and-home series between the two next year.
Related stories on Purdue basketball
- ETHAN MORTON TRANSFERS TO COLORADO STATE: Purdue senior wing Ethan Morton will finish his career at Colorado State. He spent four years with the Boilermakers and is deciding to utilize his Covid-19 waiver from the 2020-21 season. CLICK HERE
- PURDUE SCHEDULING MARQUETTE: Purdue is reportedly scheduling a home-and-home series with Marquette. The two teams played in the Maui Invitational last season. The Boilermakers have won three of the last four meetings. CLICK HERE
- CATCHINGS, HARRIS TOP 100 RECRUITS: ESPN released its list of top-100 recruits in the 2024 college basketball class. Purdue commits Kanon Catchings and Gicarri Harris both made the list. CLICK HERE
