Rivalry Renewed: Did Barry Odom Add New Fuel to Purdue-Indiana Football Rivalry?

While not as crass, bombastic and deliberate as Indiana's Curt Cignetti, new Purdue football coach Barry Odom may have added a little fuel to the in-state rivalry between the Boilermakers and Hoosiers during a press conference on Wednesday.

Odom met with media this week to talk about Purdue's incoming 40-man class — 29 from the transfer portal and 11 high school recruits in the 2025 class. At one point in his 35-minute press conference, the new leader of the Boilermakers decided to pass on the chance to refer to Indiana by name.

Odom was asked about the support he's received since his arrival in West Lafayette. He then talked about the electric and exciting atmosphere he experienced during last Friday's Purdue-Indiana basketball game at Mackey Arena.

"You can feel the passion, you can feel the energy," Odom said. "A couple nights ago when Purdue beat the opponent in red ... we walked over a group of high-level recruits. That atmosphere — from the time we walked from our building into the arena — is unmatched. You could feel it in the air."

So, for right now, Odom is referring to Indiana as "the opponent in red." We'll see if he ever mentions Indiana by name as Purdue's coach — or if he ever changes their "nickname."

Regardless, Odom's light jab at Purdue's rival pales in comparison to the gasoline Cignetti dumped on the rivalry when he was named IU's coach a year ago. During a basketball game at Assembly Hall last year, the energetic coach took the microphone and proclaimed, "Purdue sucks! But so do Michigan and Ohio State."

Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, Cignetti backed up his words. Indiana posted a 66-0 victory in the Old Oaken Bucket Game in 2024. The Hoosiers finished the regular season 11-1 and the Boilers were 1-11.

But that game pre-dates Odom, who is hoping to find immediate success in West Lafayette. And he isn't shy about his goals to start winning at Purdue.

"We're going to get Purdue football back to the winning ways," Odom told the crowd at Mackey Arena during Purdue's game against Indiana on Friday.

"We're gonna win, we're gonna win now and we're gonna win big!"

Kickoff between Purdue and Indiana is still a long way away, but it seems that Odom already understands the importance of that game and bringing the Old Oaken Bucket back to West Lafayette.