Andy Katz Names Top Big Ten Basketball Games in 2025-26 — How Many Involve Purdue?
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Purdue might enter the 2025-26 college basketball season as the favorite to win the Big Ten, but the Boilermakers will have plenty of challengers trying to prevent a third conference title in four years. College basketball analyst Andy Katz believes eight key games will go a long way in determining this year's league champion. Half of them involve Purdue.
Shortly after the 2025-26 Big Ten schedules were released on Thursday, Katz released a short video ranking eight games that he believed would determine the conference champion this season. As you might expect, with Purdue named the favorite, the Boilermakers are included several times.
Purdue is not the team with the most games on the list, though. That title actually belongs to Michigan, which was mentioned five times by Katz during his video.
Katz's complete list is as follows (in order by date):
- Jan. 17, 2026 — Michigan at Oregon
- Jan. 20, 2026 — Purdue at UCLA
- Jan. 24, 2026 — Illinois at Purdue
- Jan. 27, 2026 — Purdue at Indiana
- Jan. 30, 2026 — Michigan at Michigan State
- Feb. 17, 2026 — Michigan at Purdue
- Feb. 27, 2026 — Michigan at Illinois
- March 8, 2026 — Michigan State at Michigan
The schedule is out, and these 8️⃣ games @TheAndyKatz highlights could determine the B1G Men's 🏀 title race❕
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) September 18, 2025
Which are you looking forward to most? pic.twitter.com/YbiEOxtjPI
Purdue shooting for third Big Ten title in four years
The senior leaders of Purdue's 2025-26 season are trying to finish their careers in West Lafayette by accomplishing something special. The trio of Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer has already won two Big Ten regular-season championships, one Big Ten Tournament title, and played in three NCAA Tournaments.
That group also reached the National Championship Game in 2024, falling to UConn in the final game.
If the Boilermakers can win the conference title this year, it would be their third in four seasons, an impressive accomplishment for any class. They also have aspirations of reaching the Final Four, which would be their second in the past three years.
More than anything, though, Smith, Kaufman-Renn, and Loyer have all talked about bringing a national championship back to Purdue. It would be an incredible way to end their careers and put one final stamp on their legacies in West Lafayette.
The journey begins on Nov. 4, when Purdue hosts Evansville at Mackey Arena for the 2025-26 regular-season opener.
Related stories on Purdue basketball
PURDUE FANS REACT TO 2025-26 BIG TEN SCHEDULE: Purdue's Big Ten schedule for the 2025-26 basketball season was released on Thursday. Fans had plenty of reactions to the slate. CLICK HERE
SMITH, KAUFMAN-RENN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: The Blue Ribbon Yearbook named its preseason All-Americans for the 2025-26 season. Purdue has plenty of candidates, but which players made the cut? CLICK HERE
TAKEAWAYS FROM 2025-26 PURDUE SCHEDULE: Purdue's 2025-26 college basketball schedule is complete now. Here are three observations after the Big Ten revealed the Boilermakers' slate on Thursday. CLICK HERE
HAWKINS SHOUTS OUT MACKEY: Mackey Arena is considered one of the loudest arenas in college basketball. A former Purdue rival confirmed that with a social media post this week. CLICK HERE
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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