The best time of the year is back — NCAA basketball has tipped off for the 2024-25 season and, like always, eyes will be on Indiana come March.
The Purdue Boilermakers put the country on watch all of last season. After an embarrassing loss in the 2023 tournament and becoming the second ever top-seeded team to fall to a 16-seeded team in Fairleigh Dickinson University, Purdue had a lot to prove, and they certainly did. Head Coach Matt Painter and 2024 Player of the Year Boilermaker and current Memphis Grizzly Zach Edey led the team all the way to the finals in last year’s March Madness tournament, where the team fell short only to the repeat national champions, the UConn Huskies.
In the first AP poll of this season, Purdue was ranked 14th, which is not bad considering it lost its star in Edey, but definitely not where the team was last season, in which its ranking never fell below fourth. The team also lost Ethan Morton and Mason Gillis who averaged 3.8 and 6.8 points per game respectively last season. However, this year, the team is led by veteran players such as Fletcher Loyer who averaged 13.9 points per game last year and now averages 16.2 throughout the Boilermakers’ first five games. Loyer is joined by Braden Smith who is scoring 15.5 points and 9.5 assists per game to open the season. The duo is currently rounded out by Trey Kaufman-Renn who is leading the team in points per game, which has been the biggest surprise to me after he only averaged 6.4 points per game last season.
The Boilermakers look to avenge its loss in the Big Ten Tournament after losing to the University of Wisconsin Badgers in the quarter finals last year — but this season, it is beginning to look like the Big Ten, Boilermakers and fans will also need to keep an eye on the Indiana University Hoosiers. Last season, the Hoosiers were not ranked in the AP poll once, but have started this season at 17, rising to 16 for weeks two and three.
The two biggest games so far for the Hoosiers have been against the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks, both solid competition from the SEC. Redshirt-sophomore Myles Rice, Junior Malik Reneau and sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako led the team in scoring in both of these games, especially in the game against South Carolina. The Hoosiers were able to spread the scoring throughout the team, showing off potential depth. Redshirt sixth-year senior Oumar Ballo leads the team in rebounds in both games, with 11 against Tennessee and 13 against South Carolina.
Although the Hoosiers will likely not be looking at the championship this season, they are beginning to look more like an IU team. After missing the tournament last season, that should be an obvious goal for this squad, which looks achievable right now. Beyond that, I would love to see IU make their way into the talk for the Big Ten championship, if not this season, hopefully in one in the near future. Big Ten conference play will begin Dec. 3, but Purdue will tip off their conference campaign Dec. 8 against the Maryland Terrapins and Indiana on Dec. 9 against the Minnesota Gophers. Hopefully both teams will be in good shape by the time they reach the conference tournament being held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Downtown Indianapolis March 12-16.
