You taking over/under 3 wins?
Vegas oddsmakers currently have the over/under on wins for this Purdue team at 3. Not 2.5, not 3.5. 3. So I asked the staff what their thoughts were on this.
Betting markets show Purdue football’s win total at 3. Are you taking the over or the under? Why?
Jumbo Heroes:
I just don’t know enough about this team and this coaching staff to be confident about anything. So, rather than focus on the negative, and just dread the upcoming season, I’m going to try and look at the positives. Barry Odom brought in a staff with a nice mix of young and old and folks he has had success with in the past. Odom has basically done a complete reworking of the roster.
With those facts fresh in my mind I’m going to take the over but it might be as close as possible with 4 wins.
Drew:
I feel like Vegas is putting the line at 3 because it’s trying to get action from suckers on the over.
This is why I don’t bet…I know I’m a sucker. For the sake of argument, let’s say Purdue wins their 2 buy games (certainly not a guarantee). That means the Boilermakers need to win 2 if their next 10 games.
I’ll go ahead and knock our the games where Purdue is a substantial underdog. Purdue needs to find 2 wins in the following games:
Minnesota
Northwestern
Rutgers
Washington
Indiana
The most likely scenario is Purdue winning at least 1 of these games but I think they find 2. Weird things happen in college football and I think Odom’s going to play solid defense, relatively conservative offense and at least 2 of the above teams will best themselves.
Again, this is why I don’t bet.
Travis:
It is understandable that it is that low because, well, Purdue was just terrible last year. I also am not that excited about the Barry Odom hire. I feel like he is a great choice if you want to top out at 7-5 in year 4. Still, 3 is really, really low and I think even a marginally better Purdue team can top it. As bad as the Boilers were last year, they had two overtime losses and were in a competitive game at Michigan State.
I think I will go over. You start the season with two games that should be wins for any competent Big Ten team, in Ball State and Southern Illinois. Purdue is not beating NOtre Dame, Michigan, or Ohio State, the likes of Northwestern, Rutgers, and Minnesota provide some opportunities. I am also not sold on an Illinois team that was damn lucky to beat an abysmal Purdue team last year.
I think I will go with 4-8.
Ryan:
I’m gonna take the over but I don’t feel great about it. I would like to think that Ball State and Southern Illinois are gimmes so can Purdue go 2-8 against its Big Ten slate + Notre Dame. I sure hope so. With games against Northwestern, Rutgers, Minnesota, and Indiana (I’m still not convinced they didn’t luck their way into the CFP last season), I’m hopeful for Barry Odom’s first year at the helm. Yes, I’m hopeful for 4 wins but that still would quadruple last year so sue me.
Kyle:
I am taking…. the OVER!
Boilers should start 2-0, right? They should be able to win two more games. Im not making any promises here, I am just saying they should be able to.
Odom and his staff are building the team through grit and toughness, I think that will radiate to the players after the Purdue Program tanked under the previous staff.
Its hard though, majority of the players in roster have no connection to the previous staff, so how do you build that chip that never affected them?
By continuing to sell them a vision, which i believe Odom has done.
Garrett:
I’m taking the over right at 4-8 as well. I’m also notoriously optimistic about these sorts of things. Two games should be obvious wins but gosh what a schedule. The west coast trips Big 10 teams have now got me all sorts of pessimistic in general, though.
I definitely predict many more “competitive” games this year, but close losses could be abundant in that case. This is a mostly assembled roster after a disastrous two-year stint from The Previous Guy™ so we’ll just have to flip a coin to see if they coalesce quickly or not. Nobody’s expecting a great season in most seasons after a case of “we fired The Previous Guy™” but I’m a big believer in Odom and how he’s built a staff of guys he’s worked with in the past at Mizzou, Arkansas (as DC) and UNLV, in addition to some presumptive starters from that previous gig at UNLV.
I’d like to think the Boilers start out 2-0 (but look what Southern Illinois accomplished last year…) and then the most winnable games look to be Northwestern, Rutgers, Minnesota, and potentially Illinois and Indiana. So I’ll say 4-8 with those two additional wins being against NU and RU.
Jed:
I think this team probably gets to above that 3 win total this season. With games at home against Ball State and Southern Illinois, Purdue should get started at 2-0 and you’d have to think that Coach Odom and his staff can get a more competitive group together this season. I’m not sure there is the top flight talent that Purdue had last year with the defections in the offseason but the overall talent might be much better. The fact that this group will be getting vastly better coaching and the game plan will be something far above whatever it was last season should lead, at the least, to more competitive games. The hope would be that would lead to some wins.
I’ll say Purdue gets to 4 wins and that would be a great start to the Barry Odom-era.