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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana started playing football back in 1887, just 32 years after the Civil War, and the Hoosiers were really bad. It took them four years to win a game, and seven years before they won more than one game in a season.

They joined the Western Conference — the precursor to the Big Ten — in 1900 and had only two winning seasons in their first 35 years. And long-time Hoosiers fans know all about the Big Ten history, an outright conference title in 1945 and a co-championship in 1967 that they shared with Minnesota and Purdue.

And that's it.

So even when Indiana has been good, Purdue has often been right there with them. But that's certainly not the case since Curt Cignetti was hired take over an Indiana program that went 3-24 in three years of Big Ten play from 2021-23 under Tom Allen.

The Hoosiers' turnaround has been, some would argue, the greatest worst-to-first story in college football history. A year ago, Indiana went 11-1 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten, both school records. Their only loss was at Ohio State against a Buckeyes team that would win a national championship. Indiana's postseason loss came at Notre Dame, the team that lost to OSU in the title game.

This year, Indiana has been even better. They've won all 11 games so far, the best start in school history. They close out the regular season on Friday night against Purdue, in a 7:30 p.m. ET nationally televised game on NBC.

While this epic turnaround has been going on, things have been downright brutal at Purdue. They went winless in the Big Ten in 2024, losing all nine games, including the season finale at Indiana, where they were embarrassed 66-0. 

Ryan Walters was fired and Barry Odom hired at Purdue, but things haven't gotten any better. They are 0-8 in the Big Ten this season, with the one game pending against Indiana. The Hoosiers are 29.5-point favorites, so it looks like the Boilers will go winless in league play for two years in a row.

They haven't had back-to-back winless seasons since 1919-20 when they were a member of the Western Conference. It's never happened during Big Ten play

The disparity between Indiana and Purdue football the past two years has been history. Never has Indiana been this good, and never has Purdue been this bad.

And last year’s 66-0 win by Indiana seemed, well, just about right.

Big Ten standings, 2024-25

Look at the Big Ten cumulative standings since Curt Cignetti arrived at Indiana before the 2024 season. 

Team … 2024 … 2025 … Total

Indiana …… 8-1 … 8-0 … 16-1

Oregon …… 9-0 … 7-1 … 16-1
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Ohio State …  7-2 … 8-0 … 15-2
—
Michigan …… 5-4 …  7-1 … 12-5
—
Iowa …… 6-3 … 5-3 … 11-6
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USC …… 4-5 … 6-2 … 10-7
Illinois …… 6-3 … 4-4 … 10-7
Penn State … 8-1 … 2-6 … 10-7
—
Washington … 4-5 … 5-3 … 9-8
Minnesota … 5-4 … 4-4 … 9-8
—
Nebraska … 3-6 … 4-4 … 7-10
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Northwestern … 2-7 … 4-4 … 6-11

UCLA …… 3-6 … 3-5 … 6-11

Rutgers …… 4-5 … 2-6 … 6-11

—
Wisconsin ……  3-6 … 2-6 … 5-12
—
Michigan State … 3-6 0-8 3-14
—
Maryland …… 1-8 … 1-7 … 2-15
—
Purdue …… 0-9 … 0-8 … 0-17

What's at stake for winner

For many years, winning the Purdue-Indiana game meant only one thing — keeping the Old Oaken Bucket, one of the coolest rivalry trophies in all of college football. There were many times where both schools entered the game with five wins, needing a Bucket win to qualify for a bowl game.

Rarely have their even been postseason ramifications in this game. The 1967 game was huge, of course, without question the most important game ever in the rivalry. Indiana beat No. 3 Purdue 19-14 in Bloomington to force a three-way tie, and Indiana got the bid to the Rose Bowl because Purdue had gone the year before.

There were postseason implications for Indiana a year ago, because they needed a win to earn an at-large berth in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. They won 66-0 and probably could have scored 100 if they wanted to.

This year, a win at Purdue would give them their first-ever regular season perfect record and earn them a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis on Dec. 6. The Hoosiers have never played in that game before.

A win likely guarantees a second-straight CFP bid, regardless of what happens in the Big Ten title game.

So Indiana's win over Purdue on Friday night would be huge. Would be historic. Would be a generational thing — or more like multiple generations, really. 

Ross-Ade Stadium is going to be flooded with Indiana fans on Friday night, all excited about witnessing history. 

It's easy to do the math. Indiana has been playing football since 1887, a mere 138 years ago. They have NEVER had a perfect season. 

Until Friday night. 

Tom Brew is the National Editor-in-Chief at Roundtable Sports. You can follow him in Twitter (X) @tombrewsports

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