11/17/2025 Boilermaker Water Cooler Chat: Boilermaker Flex Edition
Rants, ravings, and somewhat sensical opinions following the wild, wacky, and wide-wide world of Purdue sports.
Enough is enough. The nay-sayers are out there talking about you. The AP Voters are out there dropping you 10 spots on their ballot because you beat Oakland by double digits. You are no longer ranked #1. You’re disrespected. What are you going to do about it? You flex your muscles and remind the damn world who you are.
Basketball:
#2 Purdue 87, #8 Alabama 80
Purdue played this game like an example of prime Floyd Mayweather boxing match. Played their game, never deviated from the plan, even when Alabama was bombing away. Slipped punches here and there, and landed their right hooks and jabs until it was time to end the match. Always in control. Exciting but never really in doubt. The last 10 minutes of the game were all Boilermakers, as the senior leadership took over the game. Unflappable.
Braden Smith led the way with 29 pts, 7 rb, & 4 ast. TKR became only the 3rd player in 30 years to go for 15 & 15 or better in a top 10 road victory, with his 19 pts, 15 rb, and 5 ast. Purdue shot 47% from the floor, 43% from 3, and outrebounded Alabama by 24 (nearly doubling them up). Tremendous performance against a top 10 opponent, on the road, against a team that has tremendous athleticism.
Akron 79, #2 Purdue 97
Purdue returned to the friendly confines of Mackey Arena to take on a very tough mid-major squad. The Zips are a top 80 program in the nation, so we knew this one wasn’t going to be a cake walk. The Boilermakers, however, just did what they do.
Three players had double-doubles. Braden Smith: 16 pts & 10 ast. Oscar Cluff 14 pts and 14 rb. In my opinion the most impressive one, Trey Kaufman Renn, 17pts and 15 rb. Fletcher Loyer and Omer Mayer both scored in double digits, as the Boilermakers over power a hot shooting MAC school.
Break It Down:
How often does it happen that the #1 team in the nation loses their ranking after winning? The freshly #2 ranked Boilermakers remained undefeated, and looked excellent doing so. Was it perfect? No. Basketball isn’t perfect. These Boilermakers put boots to asses, and answered the call that was needed. Total workman effort this week. Against Alabama, Purdue pulled off the most impressive victory of the young season, which will age gracefully. It very well might be the most impressive victory ALL SEASON… but Purdue needs to just keep winning. Will the Boilermakers pry back the #1 ranking come Monday? Who knows? It doesn’t matter. Purdue just needs to keep doing what they are doing and let the ancillary things sort themselves out.
Speaking of ancillary things, I see you, nay-saying Purdue fans. You train jumping chicken littles. I watch all the videos, I read all the articles… but most of all, I read -ALL- of the comments. How many comments did I see on YouTube videos saying that “We returned everyone and we are worse.” or on Facebook saying “With the way we played against Oakland, we won’t even make the tournament.” or on Twitter “I am a huge Purdue fan, but I put a sizeable bet on Alabama after that Oakland game.”
Doom and gloom. Purdue fans are a fickle bunch on social media, and overreacted to a less than stellar victory against an overmatched team. I am not saying that you need to be stupidly positive like I am, but at minimum be pragmatic. Leave your doomer-ass checked at the door. This Purdue team ain’t got time for that BS. You are with the Boilers or you are against the Boilers.
I have digressed. Purdue looks every bit as good as their preseason ranking. Funny that the return of an All-American can really bolster your team’s productivity! Who would’ve thought!?
Football:
Purdue 13, Washington 49
The Boilers traveled to Seattle to take on a Washington Huskies team that was licking their wounds following an embarrassing loss to Wisconsin. Washington rebounded from their embarrassment, by embarrassing Purdue.
Malachi Singleton threw for a TD to EJ Horton, Spencer Porath kicked two field goals, and Jack McCallister had a great day averaging 43.5 yards per punt. Purdue’s offense showed no creativity. Purdue’s defense showed fire, but didn’t show discipline, nor garner the ability to make stops.
Break It Down:
That was not good. I am saying that as someone who has been blindingly positive for this football team. I consider myself a bitter-ender when it comes to Purdue sports, but man on man, I had to look away during this game. I have no problem with Purdue losing so long as they are showing fight, resolve, discipline, and creativity. They continue to show fight, but the discipline has left this team. There is zero creativity. Zero. At least earlier in the year this Purdue team showed some spark on offense. There is very little entertainment value left.
Big Man on Campus:
TKR, American Badass. In his return against Alabama he looked like a man possessed. He had the fire of 1000 philosophers in his eyes and played like a man possessed. He averaged a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds. Are you kidding me? Trey Kaufman-Renn, Big Man on Campus.
Other News:
Volleyball:
Dave Shondell’s squad continue to kill it. The (as of this writing) #9 Purdue VB team has won 9 of their last 10 matchups. While they did fall to Oregon 2-3 this past weekend, the team is exceeding expectations. Coach Shondell is making a hell of a case for National Coach of the Year.
Women’s Basketball:
Katie Geralds’ squad had a rough week, losing to Purdue Ft. Wayne on a last-second shot 68-67, on the road in Ft. Wayne. With an impending visit to (as of this writing) #23 Kentucky next week, you could say that things are going to get even more difficult. That is not to disparage the Fort Wayne Colosseum, but I am pretty sure Memorial Colosseum in Lexington Kentucky is rougher on opponents.
A Look Ahead:
Purdue football has their second bye week of the season. They will use it to prepare for IU on black Friday.
Purdue Basketball will play in the Baha Mar Championship, in Nassau, Bahamas, for this year’s holiday tournament. On Thursday 11/20 Purdue will take on Memphis for a 6:00 pm ET tipoff. Following that, several scenarios play out, and Purdue will play one of either Texas Tech, or Wake Forest. I have several friends and family members who are going to be there. I am sure they had to get their arms twisted to go all the way to the Bahamas…
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One response to “11/17/2025 Boilermaker Water Cooler Chat: Boilermaker Flex Edition”
Really enjoy your articles.