First year head coach Barry Odom has his work cut out for him in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers are projected to finish dead-last in the Big Ten for the second season in a row.
It doesn’t look like the Boilermakers will be getting a reprieve following last year’s one-win season.
Purdue football went 1-11 overall in 2024 and lost all nine Big Ten matchups. This season, they’re projected to finish last in the conference once again, per Cleveland.com’s 15th annual Big Ten Football Preseason Rankings.
The Boilermakers were one of four teams to receive last-place votes, along with Wisconsin, Maryland and Northwestern.
“Purdue was the only team not to receive a single vote higher than 14th,” Stephen Means wrote. “This is the second-straight year that the Boilermakers have been picked to finish last in the conference.”
This will be head coach Barry Odom’s first year at the helm for Purdue. The new leader has completely overhauled the roster: over 50 players transferred out and 50 new players entered. But it likely won’t be enough for the Boilermakers, projected to finish 101st in division I by ESPN.
Purdue’s over/under for the season is just 3.5, per Bleacher Nation. The Boilermakers should beat the first two opponents they host, Ball State and Southern Illinois. They could pull off another win against conference opponent Northwestern, but any other victories are unlikely.
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“We need to play winning football. Our habits need to align to that,” Odom said Friday on a radio appearance in Indianapolis. “We need to be, in the month of November, chasing the opportunity to compete for a championship, and then we've got to be able to play in the postseason. That's the bottom line.”
Category: General Sports
