Purdue Boilermakers forward Raleigh Burgess (34) celebrates after scoring Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Purdue Owns College Basketball's Best Record vs. Top-25 Teams Over Last 4 Seasons

Originally posted on Purdue Boilermakers on SI
By Dustin Schutte | Last updated Jan 26, 2025 10:57 AM ET

If Purdue basketball wanted to adopt a new motto, the slogan, "You rank 'em, we break 'em," might be appropriate. Maybe it doesn't rhyme, but it would be incredibly fitting for the Boilermakers, who added another ranked win to their resumé with Friday night's 91-64 victory over No. 21 Michigan.

The Boilermakers enjoyed a wire-to-wire win, jumping out to a 6-0 lead and never looking back. Braden Smith was sensational, finishing the night with 24 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals in the win.

According to the Purdue men's basketball social media team, the Boilers now own a 23-9 record against teams ranked in the Associated Press' top-25 since the beginning of the 2021-22 season. That's the best record against ranked opponents for any team in college basketball.

The nation's best record against ranked teams in the last four years.

Boilers are 23-9 against Top-25 teams since 2021-22. pic.twitter.com/IiSHj87sO5
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) January 25, 2025

Purdue already owns four wins over ranked opponents this season. Overall, the Boilermakers are 4-3 against teams ranked in top-25 this year. Here's the breakdown:

Defeated No. 2 Alabama 87-78 (Nov. 15)
Lost to No. 15 Marquette 76-58 (Nov. 19)
Defeated No. 23 Ole Miss 80-78 (Nov. 29)
Lost to No. 17 Texas A&M 70-66 (Dec. 14)
Lost to No. 2 Auburn 87-69 (Dec. 21)
Defeated No. 13 Oregon 65-58 (Jan. 18)
Defeated No. 21 Michigan 91-64 (Jan. 24)

As of right now (Jan. 26), Purdue still has games against four ranked opponents on the schedule in the regular season: No. 21 Michigan (Feb. 11), No. 18 Wisconsin (Feb. 15), No. 8 Michigan State (Feb. 18) and No. 17 Illinois (March 7).

Things could obviously change, but Purdue could have more opportunities to improve its record even more against those top-25 opponents.

Regardless of what happens the rest of this season, it's been an incredibly impressive four-year run by Matt Painter and his program. It's a big reason why the Boilermakers have won four of the last eight Big Ten regular season titles and are consistently playing in the NCAA Tournament.

This article first appeared on Purdue Boilermakers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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