After a 4-8 season last year, head coach Ryan Walters is taking steps to try and improve in his second year as head coach. He's done a solid job recruiting in the offseason, landing Purdue's first top-30 recruiting since 2019.
In the first year of the expanded Big Ten, the Boilermakers enter the season predicted to finish 18th out of 18 teams, according to the unofficial Big Ten preseason poll. However, Big Ten Network analyst Dave Revsine disagrees with Purdue's initial ranking.
"I look at this team; I don't think there's any way this is the worst team in the Big Ten. I don't think it's particularly close," Revsine said on Purdue's training camp segment. "But I think they're comfortable with that. I think they want to sneak up on people."
"I look at this team, I don't think there's any way this is the worst team in the Big Ten. I don't think it's particularly close."@BTNDaveRevsine doesn't agree with Purdue being picked to finish last in the unofficial preseason @bigten poll.#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/ve8IMXq6xi
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) August 15, 2024
The Boilermakers' schedule will make it challenging for them to sneak up on some of the upper-echelon teams in the conference. After opening up in West Lafayette against Indiana State, Purdue then hosts in-state rival Notre Dame before taking a trip out west to take on Oregon State the following week.
Things don't get easier down the stretch, either. The Boilermakers will host Oregon and Penn State while visiting Ohio State and Michigan State, all in five games. They will then cap off their season against archrival Indiana in Bloomington for the Old Oaken Bucket.
All this being said, it will surely be interesting to watch how Purdue uses this ranking as bulletin board material, as Walters alluded to during Big Ten media days in Indianapolis.
