Basketball Fever in Indiana

I was a student at Purdue from 2001 to 2005. When I first moved into my dorm at Owen Hall in August 2001, Purdue was the defending Big Ten champs in football, coming off their first appearance in the Rose Bowl since 1967. The basketball team had enjoyed some recent success as well, winning multiple Big Ten titles in the mid-90s behind “Big Dog” Glenn Robinson and taking a surprise trip to the Elite 8 in the NCAA tournament in 1999. However, the real story had become football. Drew Brees managed to turn a long time basketball school into a football school in just 4 years with a conference title and 4 consecutive bowl game appearances. Despite the fact that the ’01 and ’02 seasons featured a football team that was just slightly above average, the stands were packed for every Purdue football game when I was in school. When they played on the road, large groups of people got together to watch the games on TV. When Purdue’s rank rose all the way to #5 during my senior year, ESPN College Gameday showed up and everyone associated with Purdue felt this was their time to break away from that mediocrity…but they wound up losing that game to Wisconsin and are now more or less in the same spot they were in in 2001, but without the large enthusiasm of their bored fan base.

Meanwhile, the basketball program was quickly becoming the laughing stock of the Big Ten. During my time in school, they managed just a 55-63 record overall, 24-39 in Big Ten play. They had one appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2003, scoring a first round upset of LSU before falling to #1 seed Texas. They had a losing record in 01-02, and made the NIT in 03-04, all while rumors of a possible retirement or firing of beloved coach Gene Keady were swirling. Many felt Keady could no longer attract recruits because of his age, and that he was out of touch with the modern player. Keady’s career unceremoniously ended after the 04-05 season, which saw Purdue finish just 7-21, only finishing 3-13 in the Big Ten, and the program was officially in the toilet. After another miserable 3-13 Big Ten season under Matt Painter in 05-06 (with Keady’s players) Purdue was having a very hard time attracting any interest from its students and alumni. I remember when I was in school, if I wanted to go to a Purdue basketball game, I could buy tickets the day of the game and have plenty of room to stretch my legs. When they played on the road, I don’t really know of anyone that actually sat down and watched the games on TV. How things have changed….

Fast forward 2 years. In the 06-07 season, Painter, with a combination of his young talent and some Keady stalwarts, put together a surprising 21-11 season and took Purdue to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003, where they beat Lute Olson’s Arizona Wildcats in the first round and gave defending and eventual national champs Florida a good game in the second round. In the offseason, Painter had a phenomenal recruiting class, so good that he often starts 4 freshmen and 1 sophomore in games this season. Many thought this would be a rebuilding year for the Boilers, with this young talent needing a year or 2 to develop, and because of the fact they only have 1 senior on their roster (the very benchable Terrance Crump). After a pretty good non-conference run, where they played tough in many games and knocked off then-ranked Louisville (but lost to tiny Wofford), Purdue entered the Big Ten schedule with guns blazing. First, after nearly knocking off highly ranked Michigan State in East Lansing, they ended Ohio State’s Big Ten winning streak at home. They later upset then #11 ranked Wisconsin at home, and proving their first matchup wasn’t a fluke, knocked off #8 ranked Wisconsin in Madison last night, in relatively convincing fashion. They now sit on top of the Big Ten with a 10-1 record, 19-5 overall, looking like a lock to win at least 23 games and go to the NCAA tourney with an even higher seed than last year.

What’s really changed is the attitude to the basketball program at Purdue. I was in West Lafayette last night, and the game was only being shown on the Big Ten network, which Comcast stupidly does not carry in the state of Indiana (though I’m sure the DirecTV subscribing bars in restaurants in town just love it). That forced me to have to go to one of those bars to watch the game. Still thinking like things were the way they were when I was in school, I tried to go to Buffalo Wild Wings about an hour and a half before the game started to get a table (this was the same plan I had for the Purdue-IU football game in November, and it worked out just fine). This time around, B-Dubs had an “indefinite wait” and almost all of the floor space inside the restaurant was packed with people. That forced me to go to a 21 and up place, hoping to weed out some of the freshmen (though I heard they get the Big Ten Network on their dorm TVs). That took me to Jake’s Roadhouse, where I was able to snag the last table. By the time the game started (and the under 21’s were kicked out) the place was absolutely packed, with everyone there completely focused on the TVs. The atmosphere was unlike anything I had ever witnessed for Purdue basketball, and Jake’s erupted as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Now Purdue will have their chance to avenge their only loss to Michigan State in West Lafayette this Tuesday. Students, who now have general admission tickets only, have been camping outside of Mackey Arena for 5 days, and so many have been doing it that the school was forced to change their seating assignment rules mid season. I’d love to go to a game sometime this season, but now I can pretty much forget about landing any tickets, and I probably shouldn’t expect to get any for the next few years….My how things have changed…