Purdue and Notre Dame will meet in the 2018 Crossroads Classic. What should fans be on the lookout for in this neutral-site matchup?
The Crossroads Classic is one of the best annual events in college basketball. With the four biggest programs from the state of Indiana (Purdue, Notre Dame, IU, and Butler) all present for one hoops doubleheader, fans from all over flock to Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the event. All four programs have extensive college basketball history and their fanbases are some of the most raucous in the entire nation. To kick off this year’s edition of the event, Purdue and Notre Dame will take the court.
To this point in the year, both the Boilermakers and the Fighting Irish have struggled a bit compared to expectations but still have the potential to be extremely dangerous teams. As members of the Big Ten and the ACC, respectively, both schools have NCAA Tournament aspirations year after year and look poised to compete once again this time around. After one month of the season, here is a look at where both teams stand (average rankings look at KenPom, Sagarin, BPI, Haslametrics, and T-Rank):
Purdue Boilermakers
Record: 6-4
Average ranking: 17.4
Strength of schedule: No. 8
Best wins: Davidson (N), Maryland (H)
The Boilermakers have played one of the toughest schedules in the nation to this point in the year but they have dropped just about every major opportunity for a key win. Carsen Edwards, the team’s top returning player from last year, has been phenomenal so far but he has not gotten a ton of help from the supporting cast. Given head coach Matt Painter’s reputation with player development, though, one would have to expect that Purdue will improve over the course of the year. The Big Ten is extremely tough this year and will provide many opportunities for high-quality wins.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Record: 6-3
Average rankings: 54.6
Strength of schedule: No. 200
Best wins: DePaul (H), Illinois (H)
Notre Dame missed the NCAA Tournament a year ago due to injury issues, mostly with star player Bonzie Colson (who graduated after the year). The Fighting Irish are extremely young this season but still return a couple of solid leaders such as T.J. Gibbs and Rex Pflueger. The Fighting Irish have struggled to this point in the year mainly because of poor shooting on the offensive end. This matchup against Purdue projects as a major opportunity for the team to add a high-quality win heading into ACC play.
Without any further ado, here are three of the major storylines to watch during this matchup between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. (All statistics used in this piece are via Sports-Reference and KenPom.)