Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Marquette, N.C. State: How Purdue's non-conference schedule came together

A tough and challenging non-conference isn’t new for coach Matt Painter’s program.

But did Purdue take it up another notch this season, which begins Monday against Texas A&M Corpus Christi (6 p.m., ET, BTN) at Mackey Arena?

The Boilermakers have already played No. 15 Creighton in a charity exhibition game, but Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, and Marquette – all preseason top 25 teams – along with a Final Four rematch with North Carolina State and others will provide a stern test ahead of Big Ten play.

“I think we’ve been trying to push the envelope and have a difficult schedule year in and year out,” said Elliot Bloom, who serves as the program’s Director of Basketball Administration and Operations and oversees scheduling. “We get 11 opportunities in the non-conference, and our goal is usually to get six high major games.

“Sometimes, you’re at the mercy of who’s available to play in terms of how difficult it ends up being, but this year was probably tracking to be pretty difficult, and a couple of late developments with the addition of Auburn and Alabama took it to another level. Alabama has a chance to come in here as the No. 1 team in the country. That was the last piece of the puzzle, and Auburn was added fairly late.”

Purdue begins the 2024-25 season with a 35-game winning streak in non-conference games. Painter’s program hasn’t lost a regular-season game outside the Big Ten since Dec. 8, 2020, at Miami, Florida – a span of 1,428 days.

Bloom discusses how this season’s set of 11 non-conference games came together, the challenge with conference realignment, changes coming to Multi-Team Events, and would Purdue play in a tournament where players received NIL funds:

The Alabama game wasn’t a return from the matchup in Toronto?  

Bloom: No. We were going to play up there and make it a one-off. We were shopping around to get a home game here in Mackey to start a home-and-home, and I was striking out with people I was trying to get in here. I made a lot of phone calls. I ran into a lot of dead ends. When you’re trying to start a home-and-home, they have to have the opening, and you have to find dates that work. Out of the blue, Alabama called and said: ‘We have the dates you’re looking for. What did you think if we came there, and you came to Tuscaloosa the next year? Ran it by coach Painter and it seemed to work for us. Not only did we add a high-quality game for the folks in Mackey and our season ticket holders and our student section and everybody we’re trying to think about when we do those things, but we also added a really good team that went to the Final Four last year and is a preseason top five this year.

That’s a big weekend with Penn State here for football.

Bloom: It’s worked out that way, but the goal every year is to try to get a really good team here for a non-conference game. We know we’re going to have a lot of good games on the Big Ten schedule, but if you can add one good game in November or early December, we feel like that’s the least we can do for the Paint Crew members, the season ticket holders who show out every year.

You said the Auburn game showed up late. How did that unfold?

Bloom: We had an opportunity to go on the road somewhere, or we were shopping for a neutral game, but then we got approached by someone to go to Birmingham and play with the idea that they would return the following year to Indianapolis. It worked out. It’s a good program year in and year out. We had that date before Christmas because our game in Indy is on the 14th. It worked out we could get a high-quality game on a neutral floor, and the bonus is we get another neutral game in Indianapolis next year out of it. it’s nice when that comes together because it knocks out a piece for next year. It’s less we have to worry about down the road.

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How did Texas A&M end up as your Indy game?

Bloom: They had independently approached the organizers in Indianapolis. They’ve been trying to upgrade their schedule and looking to get into some neutral events, and that was one. The group in Indy asked what we thought about playing A&M, and we said: ‘Absolutely.’ It’s a top-25 team. The whole idea behind this is that you want not only good games for your fans but also good games that help your NET. The NET has become a big tool in recent years for the committee to seed teams and determine the tournament. We’ve been fortunate to get high seeds the last two years and I think our non-conference scheduling has had a lot to do with that. It prepares you for the rigors of the Big Ten. Coach Painter and I were joking the other day because a few years ago, we had a lot of ACC games, and this year, I think we’re an honorary member of the SEC. We’re playing Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, and have a chance to play Ole Miss out in San Diego.

Will basketball be part of any Big Ten/SEC agreement, or is that just football?

Bloom: I know a lot of the talk is centered around football, and I’m not privy to those conversations. They have an agreement with the Big 12. Is it something where, maybe down the road, there’s something with the Big Ten? Potentially. Our league is looking at things like that, and at the end of the day, your league metric isn’t the end all be all, but it certainly helps if you can say your league is one of the top two in the country. It certainly helps when it comes to the minds of those committee members, and it gives you a chance to get a better seed.

The Marquette series was set last fall, correct?

We talked to Marquette, and it was funny because we’ve seen them so often in the last few years. We’ve got matched up in the old Gavitt Games quite a bit, much to the chagrin of people, and I’ll admit I wanted to see a different team for our fan’s sake when they came to Mackey a couple of years ago. They had a spectacular year and ended up winning the Big East. In hindsight, it was great. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. We saw them last year in Hawaii, and I talked to them when we were there. We were both looking for home-and-homes, and the joke was, ‘You want to just do this now? We’ll sign a contract while we’re out here and save us a lot of work.’ There’s a lot of respect between the two programs, there’s a lot of respect between the two head coaches. We know they’re going to be a good program year in and year out. It’s a good travel destination – we can get up there in the same time we can get to most Big Ten schools. We’re not going over two time zones, and it works. They’ll come to Mackey next year.

The San Diego trip was set some time ago, but the teams have changed.

Bloom: The initial teams were Arkansas, Notre Dame, and BYU. Arkansas and Notre Dame (replaced by North Carolina State and Ole Miss) pulled out to go to the new event in Las Vegas, and that’s a big topic of discussion right now, especially with these tournament organizers. A lot of eyes are focused on Vegas to see how they pull this off, and is this something that’s going to stay around or is it a flash in the pan?

We were committed to San Diego a long time ago. Last year was the inaugural one. Iowa was in it from the Big Ten and beat Seton Hall in the championship game. It’s a destination where we haven’t been out that far west in a while, but it’s a good chance to get out there. We like to try and spread it around the country and give our fans who travel with us a chance to go to different destinations. The last time we were in San Diego was a long time ago with coach (Gene) Keady. It’s always good for our fans in Southern California to see us play. From what I’ve heard, the tournament is run well – it’s the same people (San Diego Sports Commission) that run the Holiday Bowl and it’s partnered with FOX, which is another thing that is attractive to us. Being one of our TV partners, if we can get into one of those events, that certainly helps.

Is it on the radar for Purdue to play in an NIL event similar to the one in Vegas?

Bloom: I don’t know if that’s going to be something we’re going to do. I’ve done this long enough to never say never, but that doesn’t feel like a Purdue-type of event, to be honest. We’ve had success on the floor in these events, and it’s important for people to understand that not everybody gets invited to these events. There’s a lot of teams that would love to play in Maui or the PK85 or to play in San Diego but not everybody gets the invite. One reason why our phones ring a lot is they know how well our fans travel. If you’re hosting a tournament, you want to see the stands full, you want to see the hotels and the resorts full, and our fans have shown up in droves for these tournaments. That’s a huge benefit for us. You have to have a good program and success on the floor, and we’re at that point. And you have to have a good fan base that travels, and we’re lucky enough to have both, and our fans have shown up. It allows us to do these more often, and in return, it challenges our team, which is a win-win.

But are NIL events a thing of the future?

Bloom: It will be interesting because NIL is going to change quite a bit. As we transition next year into revenue sharing, that whole world is going to transform yet again. We just went through a transformation, and here we are going through another one. I think it’s going to give people some pause because I think the NCAA is probably going to have something to say when these new rules are implemented. Between the conference offices and the NCAA, there’s probably going to be something to be said about these events and how they’re going to look going forward. Selfishly, I’d rather get in an event that I know is good to go instead of getting in one where you have to rearrange the format or location. There’s a lot of TBAs on some of these events. We’ll see how they play out over the next year and how they work with the revenue-sharing component.

How big is the challenge now that four teams (UCLA, USC, Oregon, Washington) can’t be part of your non-conference schedule since they’re in the Big Ten? How does that puzzle work in 2025, 2026, 2027, and beyond, and how do you foresee that coming together?

Bloom: It’s forcing the organizers of these tournaments to adjust. In years past, you always played three games. It was three games and eight teams, and that was the standard format. Going forward, you’re seeing organizers adjust. Maui is still a three-game event with eight teams, and how long they’ll be able to do that will be interesting to see because last year, UCLA was in Maui, and we were both in that field. Something has to give there. UCLA and Purdue can’t be in an MTE in the same field and have a chance to play each other. How do they balance that? You’ve seen some tournaments react already. A lot of the ESPN events, the Charleston Classic, the Orlando event, and the Battle for Atlantis have changed. Instead of three games with eight teams, you have two four-team pods, and you’re doing two games. Theoretically, us and Michigan State both could be in Atlantis in the same year and not be in the same pod. It would be fine. Two games are now preferred because it gives us more flexibility. The NCAA tournament is two games in three days, and the more you can mimic that, I think people are starting to see that’s more beneficial. If you pull a game out of that field, you can take that other game and go play Auburn in Birmingham or Texas A&M in Indy, and that’s beneficial to us. It allows us to space the games out more and allow our fans to have another marquee event.

Arizona was supposed to be on this year’s schedule, but is that game coming in the future?

Bloom: Not at this point. We were trying to work something out to play them out west and it never materialized. They’ve had changes on their end. They switched leagues (Pac-12 to Big 12), and some things are happening on campus. It’s been well documented that they’ve got some financial things to figure out. It altered their plan in terms of how they schedule. We’ve got a good relationship with them and respect for that program. Is that somebody we could see down the road? Absolutely. But right now, there’s no immediate plans.

What’s the Thanksgiving trip next year?

Bloom: Still finalizing that, but it looks like we’re going somewhere tropical. We’re waiting for that deal to come together, and hopefully, that comes soon because I’m starting to work on next year’s schedule. We’ve got a return to Tuscaloosa, and Marquette is coming to Mackey. We know Auburn in Indy, and we’re working on maybe one more neutral type of game and putting those pieces together. We’ll fill the rest of it with guaranteed games.

Some of the guaranteed games this year are against good teams and sometimes you luck into things. Last year, Samford came in here and I’d like to take credit and say, ‘Yeah, I was trying to schedule a team I thought would be a good NET team for us.’ They had a phenomenal season, and it worked well for both of us. Yale is a team that traditionally has been very good, and the head coaches get along really well. They’ve done a lot of committee work together, and it was a no-brainer to play that game. A MAC team in Toledo that’s been very good, a top two or three team every year in that league.

How late do you wait for a mid-major, not knowing what their roster will look like?

Bloom: I’m the opposite. My impatience probably gets the better of me. I want to get things locked in and done. I usually try to get the dates that are hard to get. For instance, the after Christmas dates are hard because most conferences are in league play. Your pool of teams to play after Christmas is very small compared to the rest of the calendar year. I try to get that game locked in as soon as I can. There’s other games where it’s first come, first serve. If I can find a team that has the date and it works, we’ll try to get it done. There’s certain times you wait because you’re trying to get the best team, or they’re well coached and they’re in a good league and they’ll challenge for their conference championship. All those things help, but if you schedule six high majors and the Big Ten is what the Big Ten normally is, your NET takes care of itself.