Did Purdue basketball get an unfair schedule in 18-team Big Ten?

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Purdue basketball has hit a rare point in its schedule.

On Friday, the Boilermakers host UCLA on five days rest, their second straight game with that many days between games after a tight and grueling schedule that, at one point, saw Purdue play eight games in 22 days — including trips to Rutgers, Washington and Oregon in a span of nine days.

The Big Ten’s addition of four west coast schools this season made the semantics of putting together a 20-game schedule as challenging as ever.

Each Big Ten team plays two conference games in December, where teams still have some control over the non-conference schedule that surrounds those contests. Teams do not have control of scheduling for their conference games, which aren’t finalized until TV networks dictate dates of certain contests.

The final 18 league games resume in early January. Which programs have, and have not, benefited from the Big Ten’s first trial with an 18-team league?

More: Composure, a Purdue basketball staple, missing for Boilermakers as losses pile up

Purdue basketball’s Big Ten schedule balance

The Boilermakers, along with Michigan State, are butting up against teams that enter games against them with significantly more rest than other league foes. The regular season concludes next week. Taking the remaining games into account, along with those already played, how do the Spartans and Boilers stack up?

Purdue opponents during the Big Ten resumption portion of the schedule enter with an average of 4.823 days of rest, most in the conference. With an average of 4.529 days rest between, Michigan State ranks second. Minnesota (third, 4.118) and Wisconsin (fourth, 4.000) are the only other teams with an average of four days between.

Seven of Purdue’s opponents during that stretch go into a game with the Boilermakers off their longest rest of the Big Ten schedule — most in the league and ahead of Michigan State, which faces six teams off their longest break. USC and Ohio State face three each.

Indiana’s nine-day break…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/did-purdue-basketball-unfair-schedule-095323975.html

Author : Journal & Courier

Publish date : 2025-02-28 09:53:00

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