Penn State won’t get much of a breather after its loss to Michigan, as the Nittany Lions now turn their attention to one of the most difficult matchups on their schedule.
On Saturday, Penn State will hit the road to face Purdue, a program widely viewed as one of the Big Ten’s top teams and a legitimate national title threat.
Purdue enters the matchup with expectations much higher than Penn State, but the hope is for the Nittany Lions to compete.
Despite a surprising stumble earlier this season, the Boilermakers have been dominant more often than not and remain firmly in the mix to win the Big Ten. Their combination of experience, physicality, and much more makes them very dangerous, especially at home.
That status was recently confirmed by ESPN, which named Purdue as one of the favorites to win the Big Ten regular-season title.
ESPN college basketball analyst Jeff Borzello laid out why he believes Purdue can win the Big Ten.
“Purdue entered the season ranked No. 1 in preseason polls, with National Player of the Year favorite Braden Smith and All-American Trey Kaufman-Renn forming the best inside-outside combo in the country on paper.
“A win at Alabama and a 30-point victory over Texas Tech seemed to cement Matt Painter's team as a national championship favorite, but a stunning 23-point loss to Iowa State on Dec. 6 dropped the Boilermakers down a tier. They're still ranked in the top six in all efficiency-based metrics and have the best offense in the country, so don't count them out. Moreover, they get Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois all in West Lafayette, Indiana,” Borzello wrote.
For Penn State, this game is less about expectation and more about trying to compte.
The Nittany Lions showed against Michigan that they can compete with the best of the best, even if the final result didn’t go their way.
Michigan may be at the top of the Big Ten, but Penn State hung around long enough to prove it belongs on the same floor.
Purdue will likely come away with the win if things go as expected, but that doesn’t mean this matchup can’t be a good one for Penn State.
Competing, defending with purpose, and giving top effort for 40 minutes against one of the nation’s best offenses would represent another important step forward, even if it loses.