BoilerUpload - Purdue-IU: Flipping a Rivalry (2024)

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They stormed the court. It's not subtle. Not when you're paying attention, but sometimes time has a funny way of warping things. The past looms so large that the present seems small in comparison, perhaps not even there at all, and the future just a murky horizon without definitive outlines or shapes.

BoilerUpload - Purdue-IU: Flipping a Rivalry (1)

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There they are. The present and the past. The present is an IU fan base storming the court in Assembly Hall. The score was 79-74. It was the second straight victory for IU against Purdue inside its home venue. It was part of 3 of 4 wins for IU against the program that's supposed to be the little brother.

There's a lot of similarities between Assembly Hall and its crowd and Purdue's Mackey Arena. It is two of the best atmospheres in all of college basketball.

But Purdue doesn't storm courts anymore.

It also doesn't have any of those banner hanging up.

The past hangs above both programs.

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"Probably my first one, and I didn't play - which probably helped us win," Matt Painter says, holding court at his media scrum ahead of #2 Purdue's trip down to Bloomington the next day. "No, that wasn't a joke. We were down 18, 17 at half, and we came back and forced it into overtime and we were able to win in overtime. And Coach Knight always didn't guard a guy or two - I do the same thing - his version of a zone, right?"

Painter was asked about his favorite moment in his long career with the Purdue-Indiana rivalry. Matt Painter, of course, has now been on both the player's and coach's side of the rivalry at Purdue. He has a lot of memories of Purdue and Indiana going at it. But he's stuck on his first game, one he didn't participate in.

"But they left a couple of our guys open and a guy off the bench, and probably our fourth and fifth starter, left em open, and they made a couple key shots. And we were able to pull off the win."

Back then, 1989-90, the state of Indiana ran through Bloomington. That was a young, but talented Indiana team as Painter would say. They would run the conference for the next three years. But not that year.

"Getting back to Mackey Arena," Painter would continue his story. "So it's my first experience of that. And we couldn't get off the bus because the students were shaking the bus. Which was a little scary but when you're 19, that's a good moment, right?"

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Matt Painter has been around a while. He grew up an Indiana kid, in the shadows of Bob Knight. He wanted to go to Indiana because he knew what being a Hoosier meant to the sport.

But time, time works its way through everything. It allows for change, gradual, gradient, and one player turns to another player, and one coach turns to another, and thirty some odd years later, the players who are now where Painter was - wearing Purdue jerseys and heading to Bloomington - don't register all that past behind them.

"When you think about it, it's a little different for me," Trey Kaufman-Renn is telling me on Monday. I mean this literally - he's a thinker, a philosophy major. He thinks a lot, but he's not a historian as he'll show. When he was growing up in Sellersburg, In., he wasn't even thinking about Purdue or Indiana. He was a Louisville kid. He could tell you about Kentucky-Louisville, not the Big Ten. But it's more than that. See, Kaufman-Renn has been at Purdue for three years which means he's just on the other side of 20. IU isn't a rival to overcome. That's what Purdue is supposed to do. His team has been #1 every year of his career.

"It's a little different for me because that's all I think of when I think of Purdue," Kaufman-Renn told me. "I only think of them [Purdue] as being top five - almost like a blue blood. Because as long as I've been here and the years before, we've always been a good team."

The truth is the rivalry has come full circle. IU has the banners, but Purdue has the present. The expectations are with Purdue. That's why IU fans stormed last year, and the year before that, and if it pulls off the upset this year, they'll storm again.

A few decades ago, Painter couldn't get off the bus because of expectations. Now he's driving the bus, and in some ways, still stuck inside of it because of the expectations. Ones that he's created with his players.

The present is Purdue's, on Tuesday, it'll try to get one step closer to claiming its wanted future.

BoilerUpload  -  Purdue-IU: Flipping a Rivalry (2024)

FAQs

Who is Purdue's biggest rival in basketball? ›

Purdue Basketball's main rival is Indiana University. This rivalry is between the Indiana University Bloomington Hoosiers and the Purdue University Boilermakers. They are two big schools in Indiana. Fans of these two teams get very excited when they play each other.

Are Purdue and Indiana rivals? ›

For the second straight season, a sweep occurred in the legendary IU-Purdue rivalry. This year, however, the favor went to the team in West Lafayette. The No. 2 Boilermakers lived up to their national ranking, dominating the Hoosiers 79-59.

Who is Indiana Hoosiers biggest rival? ›

Rivalries. The Hoosiers' biggest traditional rival is the Purdue Boilermakers. The West Lafayette (Purdue) and Bloomington (IU) campuses are the largest in the state of Indiana and are the flagship campuses of the Purdue University and Indiana University systems, respectively.

Who is better, IU or Purdue? ›

In general, Purdue may have a slightly better overall reputation due to its engineering program being ranked amongst the best in the nation. Campus Life: IU's campus in Bloomington is considered more picturesque, with a traditional college town feel and beautiful limestone buildings.

How many times has IU beaten Purdue in basketball? ›

A series Purdue leads 125-92 all-time saw Indiana face defeat nine consecutive times before Woodson took the job back home in 2021. So far, so good – the Hoosiers have won three of the first four times the two have squared off under the current coaching regimes.

What is Purdue University known for? ›

Purdue is a Big Ten school that provides “a world class education” with a name “that is known all over the world and not just the state of Indiana.” The university is especially “known for being a great engineering school,” but has a bevy of amazing programs including “a great nursing program,” “a great Pharmacy ...

What college has the most championships in every sport? ›

There have been championships in 39 different sports in the history of the NCAA. Stanford and UCLA have captured championships in 20 different sports each, while Southern California has won in 17. Here are some other takeaways from the data: No school has won more championships in a single sport than Oklahoma State.

What percent of Purdue students are from Indiana? ›

Student Demographics

Students from the State of Indiana make up 47% of Purdue's student body.

Is Purdue an elite college? ›

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University is among the world's best academic institutions, according to yet another highly regarded ranking. The 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, released Wednesday (Sept.

When did the Purdue IU rivalry start? ›

Indiana and Purdue first met on the gridiron in 1891. The rivalry has been renewed annually in peacetime with some exceptions.

What is Purdue's rival school? ›

Purdue's main rivals are the Indiana University Hoosiers, against whom the Purdue football team plays annually for the Old Oaken Bucket.

What is the biggest rivalry in men's college basketball? ›

Duke–North Carolina, Men's College Basketball's Best Rivalry, Highlights Weekend Slate. Four top-10 ranked matchups will shape conference title races and NCAA tournament seeding.

Has Purdue ever been ranked #1 in basketball? ›

Purdue received their highest Associated Press and Coaches Poll ranking in its program's history during the 1987–88 season, where they were ranked as high as 2nd in the nation. They were ranked 1st in the nation during the 2021–2022 season.

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