College Football Guru Phil Steele Predicts Purdue's 2025 Finish in Big Ten Standings
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Purdue may be a completely revamped program heading into the 2025 season, but one of the top preseason analysts in college football is predicting a long year in West Lafayette. Phil Steele released his preseason magazine and believes the Boilermakers are destined for a last-place finish in the Big Ten for a second consecutive season.
Steele has predicted Purdue will finish 18th in the Big Ten in 2025. The Boilermakers are coming off a 1-11 campaign in 2024, which resulted in a coaching change at the end of the season.
Barry Odom takes over in West Lafayette, hoping to steer the train back onto the tracks after one of the worst seasons in program history. But it's not just the coaching staff that's new to Purdue. The Boilermakers experienced massive roster turnover, welcoming more than 70 new players to the program, most of whom came from the transfer portal.
While there are expected to be major improvements on both sides of the football, the combination of new faces and a tough schedule has many believing the Boilers are destined to be a bottom-dweller. FanDuel has already set the over/under win total at 3.5 games for Purdue.
Purdue will play three teams that earned a spot in the College Football Playoff last season: Notre Dame (Sept. 20), Ohio State (Nov. 8), and Indiana (Nov. 28). Additionally, the Boilermakers will take on an Illinois team that finished 10-3 in 2024, as well as Michigan and Minnesota, both of which hit the eight-win mark.
Despite the rocky outlook, fans continue to buy into the vision Odom has created for the program. Per Tom Dienhart of GoldandBlack.com, Purdue has sold more than 39,000 season tickets, and student tickets are sold out for 2025 at Ross-Ade Stadium.
Can Odom and the Boilers prove the doubters wrong and make some noise in the Big Ten this season? We only have to wait a little bit longer to find out. Purdue's season begins on Saturday, Aug. 30, against Ball State. Kickoff is set for noon ET and the game will air on Big Ten Network.
Big Ten Football projected order of finish (via Phil Steele)
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Oregon Ducks
- Michigan Wolverines
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Indiana Hoosiers
- USC Trojans
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Washington Huskies
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Michigan State Spartans
- UCLA Bruins
- Northwestern Wildcats
- Maryland Terrapins
- Purdue Boilermakers
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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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