For those of you that have been following all summer, yes. I failed, one final time, to get the rivalry intro article up before mid-week. But with this final week, our summer-long watch has mercifully ended. Since July, we have taken a quick look at every one of the Big Ten rivalry matchups, all in reverse order by conference wins.
Now, you may be thinking "Did Purdue win a conference game last year? How are they at the pointy end of things?" No, dear reader, they did not win a conference game. But Indiana is our current conference standard-bearer, colossal juggernaut, and world-destroyer, and Purdue is their plus-one for the week. Let's get to it. We'll have season recaps and predictions coming soon.
AlmaOtter
Is this rivalry a real thing?
Historically, yes. Presently? Umm.
Ah. Right. Well, let's talk historically then.
Yeah, 100% a classic rivalry! 127 meetings classifies it well into the century club. The first game was way back in 1891 and they've been at it yearly since 1920. While neither have been exactly ahem football powerhouses (until recently), it's been a lively affair that tended to have more importance on the basketball court. Very much a real thing.
Where'd you two come from again?
Because I need to make up for that egregious score graphic above: Purdue was here first. The Boilermakers were the OG of OGest members, as it was their president that kicked off the dang thing. Indiana, interlopers that they are, joined the conference 3 years later in 1899. And they've both been here ever since!
You folks got a trophy or some hardware?
So the backstories of trophies are always a little weird. But only the Old Oaken Bucket can call back to an 1817 poem written by a Massachusetts resident, the setting of which is not remotely about the state of Indiana. But the poem was put to song in the mid 1800s and it turned out to be, as the kids then must have said, a fuckin' banger. The Chicago-based alumni chapters from Indiana and Purdue landed on the bucket as the perfect symbolism for their schools and there it was. The Old Oaken Bucket was born.
Let's get to some numbers. What's the series win-total look like?
So Purdue has kind of dominated the long-term series. 77 wins for the black and gold, 44 for crimson and cream, 6 ties. Between 1948 and 1966, Purdue was defeated once. It's occasionally lost in the wake of it all, but let's just take a moment to remember what miracles Curt Cignetti pulled off the last two years. Taking the whoopin' end of the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry and turning that to a title champion in two seasons is nothing short of impossible. But that impossible proposition did, in fact, happen. And that, in a nutshell, is why we give a shit about sports.
Welcome to Bucket Week. (On a Thursday, yes.)
