IU-Purdue | A Rivalry Check-In | The past, present, and future

It's amazing how much changes in a year.

After IU played Purdue for the second time last season, it was Purdue that walked away from the game feeling the sting of having been swept by its in-state rival. While losing to IU never feels good as a Purdue fan, player, or coach, the two losses didn't get in the way of any of Purdue's goals as a team. Purdue still would win the Big Ten, and would do it by three games. It would still win the Big Ten Tournament. It would still get a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Purdue was a surprise team last year that started the year unranked, and finished as one of the best teams in the country. It existed as the #1 team in the country for seven weeks. The loss to IU was a point of pride for a Hoosiers team that had two NBA players, both kryptonites to Purdue when playing well, and they both shined against Purdue.

This year's sweep feel a little different. Purdue remains at the top of college basketball, and even though the gap between them and IU was there last season, its vastness feels a bit unsettling this year.

Purdue opened the second matchup of the two teams as 19.5 point favorites. It won already at Assembly Hall by 21 points, the largest margin for Purdue in that building.

The programs couldn't feel more apart as IU heads towards a March without Madness, and Purdue heads towards its second straight #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The game was a rough reminder of that for IU coach Mike Woodson. The questions he was asked afterwards during the post-game provided a bleak perspective to his program in its current iterations.

"What are some things that really need to happen for you guys - maybe even looking forward to the off-season - to kind of get the program back on track?"

"How far can this team come - whether it's the rest of this season or through the off-season - in terms of maybe learning how to defend through stretches where shots aren't falling?"

Those are parts of each of the first two questions asked by Indiana beat writers to Woodson after the game. The clear sentiment is that this season is already a lost one for IU. Woodson tolerated the first question, answering that his team's youth really showed today. Not having experienced guard, Xavier Johnson, is also hurting his team.

He started to answer the second question before speaking against the premise of both questions.

"We just gotta continue to grow as a team and we're gonna have to add some pieces, but the season's not over with guys," Woodson answered.

It's one of the stranger press moments I've sat through. The conclusion isn't necessarily wrong. Nothing about this Indiana season points to them turning it around in the final seven games of its season, but there are still games on the schedule, a lot of them.

But it's becoming pretty clear that this iteration of the Hoosiers is running fans and media out of patience. The divide between Purdue and Indiana after the game was as large as the production on the court and on the Big Ten standings.

Purdue still has a lot of things to accomplish this year. IU appears to be in a place where it just hopes next year brings cures.

Matt Painter didn't know it was coming. It wasn't his call, but Braden Smith and Zach Edey have built up quite the chemistry over the last two seasons. Edey's earned being able to go off script, and there might not be a better one-two in the country. Both put on their best displays against IU for the second time this season.

Zach Edey had 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists.

But at times, he was the second best Boiler on the floor. Braden Smith had 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists as he carved up Indiana with his passing vision and ability to get to the rim and score at all angles.

But it'll be a play in the second half that will stand out to Purdue fans. It had Smith, Edey, and Mason Gillis in high spirits afterwards, as well.

Edey told Smith in the second half, find him on the pick and pop. Smith was a bit surprised, but a few moments later, Smith was dribbling right and throwing the ball back left to the 7-4 Zach Edey at the top of the arc. Edey didn't hesitate. He uncorked a shot, just his second ever three-point attempt, and its aim was true. It went straight to the backboard and then in.

Afterwards, Edey declared himself the best shooter - perhaps anywhere. He certainly was in the eyes of everyone in a sold out Mackey Arena.

Purdue and Indiana have always been fascinating juxtapositions.

Which matters most in college basketball?

Is it, as IU fans tend to think, the history? It's cliche, but also earned, those banners hanging high up there in Assembly Hall. They are real trophies, from great teams, moments and memories that exist with the highest exaltations of fandom.

But that joy sparks from a season ending in 1987.

So is it the present? Purdue has swept IU this season. It sits at the top of college basketball. It has dominated IU for the last decade. If anything, the sweep last season seems like a mirage for IU fans, something too good to believe in with the trajectory that both programs seem to be on.

Because isn't college basketball fandom really about the future? What the next game will be, the next season.

For IU, a program used to looking in the past, it has found itself looking towards the future, and maybe only because the present is so ugly.

For Purdue fans, its just hoping that this present can carry through as it tries to forget about its past.

The future for Purdue has never looked better as this team looks prepared to make history.