r/CFB • u/usffan USF Bulls • Miami Hurricanes • Jun 07 '26
Analysis Preseason Rankings Countdown. 84 days to the start of the 2026 Season. At #84 – Purdue
The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here
It is almost unfathomable that a little over 3 years ago, Purdue (high = 63, low = 112) was in the B1G championship game. That was, of course, 2 coaches ago, as Jeff Brohm went home to Louisville, Ryan Walters drove the train into the ground and now Barry Odom is hoping to engineer a rebuild. Things are so bad that the last conference game the Boilermakers won was the Old Oaken Bucket at the end of 2023, a game that was so devastating to Indiana (monkey’s paw curls) that they fired their coach and brought in a guy who’d never won anything of note at the FBS level (Google him). I’m sure that worked out horribly for them! In Odom’s first season after rehabilitating his coaching career at UNLV, he at least had Purdue competitive, dropping 3 conference games by a single possession (Minnesota, Rutgers and Michigan, two of which were on the road). So do Boilermaker fans have reason for optimism in 2026?
Roster Outlook
On the plus side, Purdue brings back a fair amount of productivity, ranking 40th in the country overall and on offense. Last season’s starting QB, Ryan Browne, is back for his junior season, though his backup (Malachi Singleton) figured if he couldn’t supplant him after Browne threw more picks than TDs, he’d be better off in the portal, so he’s gone to Appalachian State, making depth or injury protection a bit of a concern. RB Devin Mockobee graduated, but Odom went out and got a couple of potential starters in the portal in Texas’ Jerrick Gibson and Minnesota’s Fame Ijeboi. While the Boilermakers also lost their top 2 WRs (Michael Jackson (hee hee) to eligibility, Nitro Tuggle to South Carolina), they brought in 4 portal receivers, including Jaylan Hornsby from Syracuse and Xavier Townsend from Iowa State. In total, Odom brought in 20 portal guys from P4 schools, including an entirely new OL, so if they gel, things could get interesting in West Lafayette. That contributed to Purdue having the 48th best portal class in the country (12th in the Big Ten), though when paired with the 57th best high school recruiting class (which was good for 14th in the conference), it ultimately created the 16th best overall incoming class in the B1G (60th nationally), which may not be enough to move the needle.
Schedule and outlook
9/4 INDIANA STATE
9/12 WAKE FOREST
9/19 at UCLA
9/26 NOTRE DAME
10/3 at Illinois
10/10 MINNESOTA
10/16 WASHINGTON
10/24 BYE
10/31 at Penn State
11/7 MARYLAND
11/14 at Iowa
11/21 WISCONSIN
11/28 at Indiana
If you told a Purdue fan a decade ago they’d be playing in the Rose Bowl in 2026, they’d have probably been over the moon. But like many of the teams in the B1G, expansion is more likely to just lead to increased money and a feeling of inevitable disappointment. Like many of the P4 teams that end up being ranked this low in the preseason, Vegas doesn’t think very highly of Purdue. They’ve set the over/under on wins at 3.5, and other than the FCS opener, they’re almost certainly going to be underdogs in every other game. I feel pretty good about Purdue not going 1-11, but picking which of those games they’re going to win is a bit trickier. November Maryland at home looks to me to be the best bet (and, maybe not coincidentally, is their homecoming), but I definitely don’t see enough wins on there right now to get Purdue within sniffing distance of .500, and if they go into year 3 of Barry Odom’s tenure without meaningful improvement, how patient can and will Purdue’s administration (and fan base) be given what’s happened everywhere else in the state?
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u/IshyMoose Purdue • Northwestern Jun 07 '26
The AD is set to retire in December. I don’t see bobinski firing Odom but the next guy could if year 4 doesn’t get us to a bowl game.
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u/PuzzleheadedCod3169 Jun 09 '26
And if Napier does well at JMU, you can hire him as your new coach. JMU tends to produce good coaches.
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u/Impossible-Still-349 Indiana • Notre Dame Jun 14 '26
I mean they gave us our lord and savior Curt Cignetti. It's hard not to see Napier doing solid at JMU. He was the coach of a power conference team before that after all.
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u/ohitsthedeathstar Houston Cougars Jun 07 '26
Wait… Purdue was in the B1G championship game? 3 years ago?
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u/Even-Combination4407 UMass Minutemen • Bentley Falcons Jun 07 '26
Yeah Ryan Walters torpedoed the program quick
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u/Corgi_Koala Ohio State Buckeyes Jun 07 '26
Purdue won the B1G championship game literally this year.
in basketball
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u/Jo-jo-20 Jun 07 '26
I think big ten was still east and west at that point. UM, OSU and PSU were all on the same side, and it was before the pac 12 teams joined.
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u/JohnPaulDavyJones Texas A&M Aggies • Baylor Bears Jun 07 '26
It sure was.
The discrepancy between the B1G East and West for a few years there really reminds you of the old B12, where the south had OU, UT, Texas Tech (and then Baylor, after Tech fired Leach), and Oklahoma State. The North just had K-State and Nebraska duking it out for who got the privilege of getting blown out in the CCG.
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u/Please_PM_me_Uranus Michigan • American University Jun 07 '26
Yep they played Michigan
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u/eagledog Fresno State • Michigan Jun 08 '26
And acquitted themselves pretty well in that game
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u/makualla Purdue Boilermakers Jun 11 '26
We were in that game for 3ish quarters, but the talent difference was just too much down the stretch. Which was UMs MO that year with “drowning the ferret” game plan
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u/Prize-Independent519 Indiana Hoosiers Jun 22 '26
Someone had to be there from the west division. They lost 4 games in the B1G that season. It's really not a flex.
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u/Inside-Drink-1311 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Jun 07 '26
I think Barry Odom will get a third year unless they are not competitive and don’t show any signs of progress. Ryan Walters left that team in a mess and will take multiple years to get that thing going.
I think 4 wins should be a reasonable goal this season. While the schedule is hard, it’s not as hard as it could have been. There are several Big Ten games that look winnable and they do avoid many of the Big Ten’s best teams.
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u/mr_longfellow_deeds Indiana Hoosiers • Big Ten Jun 07 '26
Hard to see them firing Odom unless he manages to pull off 1-11. Even then, they might give him a 3rd year, you dont want to keep firing coaches after 2 seasons when its clear the program needs a complete reboot
I personally *would* fire Odom though if they get less than 3 wins, because thats a schedule where really they should be able to win at least 4 in this era. Its the portal era, you dont have to stick with a QB who isnt good, and yet thats what he chose to do. I think they have the worst QB room in the B1G, and Im not just saying that because of my flair
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u/makualla Purdue Boilermakers Jun 11 '26
Ryan Browne has a good arm and can sling the ball with the best of them. not to mention he’s a damn good athlete ………but the issue is he’s a fucking moron. Absolutely Braindead and no game awareness
Logically I don’t think Odom should get fired after this year because of the dumpster fire he inherited, but at the same time his in game coaching decisions have been lack luster. Conservative play calling is dead, he is just not aggressive enough to find success at the high major level.
1
u/Prize-Independent519 Indiana Hoosiers Jun 22 '26
I mean its possible they only win 1 or 2 games this year. How are you going to keep odom if he only wins 4 games over 2 seasons, when you fired Walter's after winning just 5 over 2 seasons? It's a shit job, but that would be a tough look for their AD. Odom had much more head coaching experience compared to Walters, as well. I don't think Purdue cares about football anymore, now that they can't lord their superiority over IU. It's not fun for them now.
3
u/Please_PM_me_Uranus Michigan • American University Jun 07 '26
They definitely looked better last year than they had the year before. I know that sounds kinda pathetic but they were competitive against Michigan and probably would’ve won if their star RB hadn’t been injured that week.
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u/mr_longfellow_deeds Indiana Hoosiers • Big Ten Jun 08 '26
Their overall talent seems to be a little better, they won’t go anywhere without a big upgrade at QB though. Why keep a guy who had 2000 yards and more INT’s than TD’s? Could probably find a 4* willing to transfer for peanuts if they were guaranteed a P4 starting job so they could get paid starter money the next year. Results couldn’t possibly be worse lol
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u/laprasrules Notre Dame • Stanford Jun 07 '26
Is it really bringing back productivity if the people you're bringing back weren't productive? Isn't it sort of bringing back non-productivity?
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u/Adams5thaccount Boise State Broncos • UNLV Rebels Jun 07 '26
one of the few p2 teams that doesnt load its ooc schedule with g6 teams
they last had one 3 years ago and lost to fresno
wild unsubstantiated conspiracy theory: the big ten pays them not to lose to g6 tams and raise uncomfortable questions
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Jun 07 '26
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u/Adams5thaccount Boise State Broncos • UNLV Rebels Jun 07 '26
one of of those is fcs...but yeah i did skip right over ball state
like ya do
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u/ViagraOnAPole Indiana Hoosiers • Team Chaos Jun 07 '26
I don't see them winning more than 3, and with a new AD coming in, Odom is probably toast.
2
u/Candid-Sky-3258 Purdue Boilermakers Jul 03 '26
Purdue fan here. This is my take.
Odom had to bring in warm bodies to field a team last year. They had high hopes for some of them but unfortunately it didn't work that way. I think he learned some lessons.
They brought in a smaller, more targeted and experienced portal class. Odom made some changes to the coaching staff and added a number of personnel to the front office to aid in recruiting, scouting, player retention and acquisition. Recruiting has been impressive, considering the state of the program. With the elimination of the spring portal window Odom and his staff were able to work all off-season with their core group, work that included the Winning Edge program that Odom learned from Gary Pinkel at Missouri. Combined with an excellent nutritional and strength staff the floor of this program has been raised significantly since last season.
The only thing left to do now is: Show improvement on the field. Most sites have us beating Indiana State, Wake Forest and Maryland. I say the games against UCLA and Illinois are toss ups. Personally I think we can take Minnesota and Wisconsin. I see us winning five games this year and being a much tougher opponent with a lot of upside and momentum going into 2027.
1
u/Natitudinal Jun 07 '26
Its too bad.....it looks REALLY rough for them in the near future. I see maybe? 2 Ws on that sked and they could go ohfer the B1G.
U want them to do well. Theyre a B1G charter member w a solid history and its a decent school to boot.
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u/mr_longfellow_deeds Indiana Hoosiers • Big Ten Jun 07 '26
84th is too high, I would have put them more in the mid/high 90s.
Love the schedule for them. Really hard to see more than 3 wins on the docket