Staff Roundtable: Predicting Purdue Football’s 2026 Record

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Since Purdue football kicks off their season on Friday we are now less than one week away from the start of the reason. Ryan and I have covered the schedule for the last several weeks. Drew has gone through each unit on the team. Drew has also covered every opponent on the schedule week by week. Things are going to change week after week given how many questions we have not only about this team but about the opponents. The transfer portal has changed everything and it feels like we know less and less about these teams each season while the NCAA continues to be the wild west. Regardless, there’s content to be created and so I asked the staff to tell me their predictions for the 2026 Purdue football record. So, let’s get to it.

Ledman:

I’ve looked hard at this schedule and I want to be optimistic. But there are just too many question marks for me to go with a full throated optimistic take. The offensive line has been said to be massively improved from last season where it left Ryan Browne running for his life. Has Ryan Browne improved that dramatically? Who will be the WRs? Has the defense taken multiple steps forward? I just don’t have good solid answers to those questions, and we won’t get answers against Indiana State. For that reason I’m stuck between 3-9 and 4-8. I’ll take the leap and give them a 4-8 record thus doubling the win total for the second straight season.

Travis:

Honestly? 2-10. 

Yes, Purdue should be better. It is hard to be much worse, but we are starting from so far behind the rest of the BIg Ten that the gulf seems enormous. Last season the Boilers were able to hang around in a couple games, but the lack of quality depth reared its ugly head in losses to Rutgers, Minnesota, and Michigan. If that depth is not there I expect more of the same. it doesn’t help that Wake Forest and Notre Dame are ridiculously hard non-conference opponents for a program trying to dig itself out of hell. 

Indiana State is an automatic win because, let’s face it, if Purdue drops that game it is likely hanging an 0-fer. I like getting Maryland in November, and (as wild as it seems), a dead team walking in Wisconsin with an already fired Luke Fickell looks juicy. Aside from that? I am not seeing a win. There are five preseason top 20 teams on the schedule, plus a nine-win Wake Forest, Illinois and Minnesota look solid, and a long road trip to a much improved UCLA when we haven’t won a regular season game on the West Coast since Nixon was President. It’s pretty grim. 

Kyle:

Honestly, I’ve got Purdue at 5-7 this year.

I think they’re going to be noticeably better than last year, especially with the transfers and another year for Ryan Browne in the offense. I see wins over Indiana State, Wake Forest, UCLA, Minnesota, and Maryland, with Wisconsin being the swing game that could push them to 6-6.

The schedule is still tough with Notre Dame, Washington, Penn State, Iowa, and Indiana, and I just don’t trust the defense enough yet to pick them in those games.

I could see them finishing anywhere from 4-8 to 7-5, but my honest prediction right now is 5-7 (3-6 Big Ten). I think the team will look better than the record suggests, though.

Ryan:

5-7. If you couldn’t tell, I am an optimistic person but a 6-6 season (and inevitably a game in the Pinstripe Bowl as the Detroit bowl game is no more) is a bridge too far. 

Indiana State – W

Wake Forest – W

At UCLA – L

Notre Dame – L

At Illinois – L

Minnesota – W

Washington – L

At Penn State – L

Maryland – W

At Iowa – L

Wisconsin – W

At Indiana – L

Jed:

It would appear that in his second season that Barry Odom has a better handle on what he stepped in to at Purdue. It certainly didn’t help when the AD said something along the lines of ‘well, we didn’t give Barry what he needed in Year 1.’ That doesn’t give a lot of confidence to see things turn around in year 2. 

Purdue’s schedule continues to be one of the toughest in the B1G and they continue to inexplicably schedule the non-conference like they are desperate to be noticed for something. The program needs wins and not moral victories.

There has been a lot about Ryan Browne making improvements based solely on having better offensive lineman and skill position players around him needs to prove that he can make plays and not throw dumb passes that cost Purdue points.

Lastly, the hiring of former DC Kevin Kane is either going to be a great decision or one that may sink Barry Odom overall. I’m not sure how you can really sell bringing a guy back who oversaw an absolutely terrible defense to a fanbase who is tired of seeing terrible football.

That all said, I think Purdue has 6 winnable games and probably one where they could compete with a much better team. I don’t think that translates to a bowl game this season but 4-8, unfortunately, shows growth in the right direction. It also shows how poor Bobinski’s hiring of Ryan Walters hurt the program.

Casey:

Here’s a gross prediction: Purdue wins four games and it feels like both a good season and let down after starting the season 2-0. Purdues season gets tough just in time for injuries and the Big Ten physicality can take its toll on the team. Until Purdue gets a line that can consistently compete on both sides and a qb that can make the rest of the playmakers better, Purdue will be a team that needs its best to win any Big Ten game. That’s too hard a task to do week in and week out.

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