ESPN Names Purdue's Top Nonconference Game of 2025-26 Basketball Season

Purdue's 2025-26 nonconference schedule is loaded with great matchups. Before Big Ten play starts, the Boilermakers will test their strength against some of the top teams in the country. But which opponent provides the most enticing matchup this season? ESPN's Jeff Borzello provided his opinion.

In a list of the top nonconference games for each of the 25 teams in ESPN's way-too-early power rankings, Purdue's matchup against Auburn in the Indy Classic on Saturday, Dec. 20 was tabbed as the top nonconference game.

The Boilermakers played the Tigers last year in Birmingham, a lopsided victory for Bruce Pearl's squad.

"This matchup will feature two of the elite point guards -- maybe the two best -- in men's college basketball in Purdue's Braden Smith and Auburn's Tahaad Pettiford," Borzello wrote. "It will also be an interesting test for the Boilermakers' potential two-big lineup against an Auburn frontcourt that skews smaller than it did last season when it beat Purdue by 18 points behind 23 points and 11 rebounds from Johni Broome."

Selecting Purdue's top nonconference game this season is no easy task. The Boilermakers have games against Alabama (Nov. 13), Memphis (Baha Mar Championship on Nov. 20), Iowa State (Dec. 6), and Marquette (Dec. 13) on the docket. It should provide Matt Painter's team with plenty of tests before jumping into Big Ten play.

Auburn is coming off a 32-6 season in 2024-25, winning the SEC regular season title and reaching the Final Four.

Purdue heads into the 2025-26 season with one of the top rosters in college basketball. The Boilermakers are hoping to win a Big Ten title for the third time in four seasons and reach the Final Four for a second time in the past three years.