Teams

Every Purdue season on record, 1896-97 to 2024-25, sorted by strength measure within tier. The tier label (A/B for 1985-present ratings, C for the pre-1985 estimate) is shown prominently because the strength measures are not on the same scale across tiers - see the methodology page before comparing across tiers.

A 1950s vibrating tabletop basketball game: tiny plastic figurines in old gold and black and in white jitter across a small metal court under lamp light, a miniature hoop on a post at each end. — Teams, tabletop edition.

All-time seasons

Every Purdue season, 1896-97 to 2024-25, sorted by strength measure within tier
Season	Coach	Record	B1G record	B1G finish	Tier	Strength measure	Rank in field	Accomplishment	B1G title	NCAA seed	NCAA result
1896-97	F. Homer Curtis	1-1	-	-	C	-	-	1.00	False	-	-
1899-00	Alpha Jamison	0-1	-	-	C	-	-	0.00	False	-	-
1900-01	Alpha Jamison	12-0	-	-	C	-	-	12.00	False	-	-
1901-02	Charles Best	10-3	-	-	C	-	-	10.00	False	-	-
1902-03	C.I. Freeman	8-0	-	-	C	-	-	8.00	False	-	-
1903-04	-	11-2	-	-	C	-	-	11.00	False	-	-
1904-05	James L. Nufer	3-6	-	-	C	-	-	3.00	False	-	-
1905-06	C.B. Jamison	4-7	3-6	-	C	-	-	7.00	False	-	-
1906-07	C.B. Jamison	7-8	2-5	#4	C	-1.01	-	9.00	False	-	-
1907-08	C.B. Jamison	5-9	2-9	#5	C	-2.85	-	7.00	False	-	-
1908-09	E.J. Stewart	8-4	6-4	#2	C	-0.01	-	14.00	False	-	-
1909-10	Ralph Jones	8-5	5-5	#5	C	0.56	-	13.00	False	-	-
1910-11	Ralph Jones	12-4	8-4	#1	C	0.24	-	29.00	True	-	-
1911-12	Ralph Jones	12-0	10-0	-	C	2.38	-	31.00	True	-	-
1912-13	R.E. Vaughn	7-5	6-5	#4	C	-0.09	-	13.00	False	-	-
1913-14	R.E. Vaughn	5-9	3-9	#7	C	-0.33	-	8.00	False	-	-
1914-15	R.E. Vaughn	5-8	4-8	#6	C	-0.85	-	9.00	False	-	-
1915-16	R.E. Vaughn	4-10	2-10	#9	C	-1.05	-	6.00	False	-	-
1916-17	Ward Lambert	11-3	7-2	#3	C	-0.25	-	18.00	False	-	-
1917-18	J.J. Maloney	11-5	5-5	#6	C	0.42	-	16.00	False	-	-
1918-19	Ward Lambert	6-8	4-7	#8	C	0.10	-	10.00	False	-	-
1919-20	Ward Lambert	16-4	8-2	#2	C	2.15	-	24.00	False	-	-
1920-21	Ward Lambert	13-7	8-4	#3	C	-0.04	-	30.00	True	-	-
1921-22	Ward Lambert	15-3	8-1	#1	C	0.31	-	32.00	True	-	-
1922-23	Ward Lambert	9-6	7-5	#5	C	0.06	-	16.00	False	-	-
1923-24	Ward Lambert	12-5	7-5	#5	C	-0.75	-	19.00	False	-	-
1924-25	Ward Lambert	9-5	7-4	#4	C	-0.07	-	16.00	False	-	-
1925-26	Ward Lambert	13-4	8-4	#1	C	-0.39	-	30.00	True	-	-
1926-27	Ward Lambert	12-5	9-3	#3	C	-0.47	-	21.00	False	-	-
1927-28	Ward Lambert	15-2	10-2	#2	C	1.55	-	34.00	True	-	-
1928-29	Ward Lambert	13-4	9-3	#3	C	1.08	-	22.00	False	-	-
1929-30	Ward Lambert	13-2	10-0	#1	C	1.56	-	32.00	True	-	-
1930-31	Ward Lambert	12-5	8-4	#4	C	0.64	-	20.00	False	-	-
1931-32	Ward Lambert	17-1	11-1	#1	C	1.55	-	37.00	True	-	-
1932-33	Ward Lambert	11-7	6-6	#6	C	0.51	-	17.00	False	-	-
1933-34	Ward Lambert	17-3	10-2	#1	C	2.60	-	36.00	True	-	-
1934-35	Ward Lambert	17-3	9-3	#1	C	1.02	-	35.00	True	-	-
1935-36	Ward Lambert	16-4	11-1	#2	C	1.10	-	36.00	True	-	-
1936-37	Ward Lambert	15-5	8-4	#4	C	1.40	-	23.00	False	-	-
1937-38	Ward Lambert	18-2	10-2	#1	C	0.47	-	37.00	True	-	-
1938-39	Ward Lambert	12-7	6-6	#5	C	-0.12	-	18.00	False	-	-
1939-40	Ward Lambert	16-4	10-2	#1	C	1.04	-	35.00	True	-	-
1940-41	Ward Lambert	13-7	6-6	#6	C	-0.37	-	19.00	False	-	-
1941-42	Ward Lambert	14-7	9-6	#6	C	0.54	-	23.00	False	-	-
1942-43	Ward Lambert	9-11	6-6	#5	C	-0.19	-	15.00	False	-	-
1943-44	Ward Lambert	11-10	8-4	#5	C	0.98	-	19.00	False	-	-
1944-45	Ward Lambert	9-11	6-6	#4	C	-0.77	-	15.00	False	-	-
1945-46	Ward Lambert	7-7	2-4	#8	C	-0.10	-	14.00	False	-	-
1945-46	Mel Taube	3-4	2-4	#8	C	-0.10	-	14.00	False	-	-
1946-47	Mel Taube	9-11	4-8	#8	C	-1.08	-	13.00	False	-	-
1947-48	Mel Taube	11-9	6-6	#5	C	-0.69	-	17.00	False	-	-
1948-49	Mel Taube	13-9	6-6	#6	C	-0.84	-	19.00	False	-	-
1949-50	Mel Taube	9-13	3-9	#9	C	-1.32	-	13.00	False	-	-
1950-51	Ray Eddy	8-14	4-10	#8	C	-1.17	-	12.00	False	-	-
1951-52	Ray Eddy	8-14	3-11	#10	C	-1.58	-	11.00	False	-	-
1952-53	Ray Eddy	4-18	3-15	#10	C	-1.94	-	7.00	False	-	-
1953-54	Ray Eddy	9-13	3-11	#10	C	-1.70	-	12.00	False	-	-
1954-55	Ray Eddy	12-10	5-9	#6	C	-0.72	-	17.00	False	-	-
1955-56	Ray Eddy	16-6	9-5	#4	C	-0.32	-	25.00	False	-	-
1956-57	Ray Eddy	15-7	8-6	#5	C	-0.41	-	23.00	False	-	-
1957-58	Ray Eddy	14-8	9-5	#3	C	-0.10	-	23.00	False	-	-
1958-59	Ray Eddy	15-7	8-6	#4	C	0.18	-	23.00	False	-	-
1959-60	Ray Eddy	11-12	6-8	#7	C	-0.37	-	17.00	False	-	-
1960-61	Ray Eddy	16-7	10-4	#3	C	-0.12	-	26.00	False	-	-
1961-62	Ray Eddy	17-7	9-5	#3	C	0.00	-	26.00	False	-	-
1962-63	Ray Eddy	7-17	2-12	#10	C	-1.54	-	9.00	False	-	-
1963-64	Ray Eddy	12-12	8-6	#5	C	-0.33	-	20.00	False	-	-
1964-65	Ray Eddy	12-12	5-9	#7	C	-1.44	-	17.00	False	-	-
1965-66	George King	8-16	4-10	#10	C	-1.56	-	12.00	False	-	-
1966-67	George King	15-9	7-7	#5	C	-0.33	-	22.00	False	-	-
1967-68	George King	15-9	9-5	#3	C	0.75	-	24.00	False	-	-
1968-69	George King	23-5	13-1	#1	C	1.92	-	68.02	True	-	L
1969-70	George King	18-6	11-3	#2	C	1.35	-	29.00	False	-	-
1970-71	George King	18-7	11-3	#3	C	0.39	-	29.60	False	-	-
1971-72	George King	12-12	6-8	#7	C	-0.59	-	18.00	False	-	-
1972-73	Fred Schaus	15-9	8-6	#3	C	-0.70	-	23.00	False	-	-
1973-74	Fred Schaus	21-9	10-4	#3	C	0.57	-	32.10	False	-	-
1974-75	Fred Schaus	17-11	11-7	#4	C	0.58	-	28.00	False	-	-
1975-76	Fred Schaus	16-11	11-7	#3	C	0.55	-	27.00	False	-	-
1976-77	Fred Schaus	19-9	13-5	#2	C	0.74	-	32.73	False	-	L
1977-78	Fred Schaus	16-11	11-7	#5	C	0.34	-	27.00	False	-	-
1978-79	Lee Rose	27-8	13-5	#2	C	0.40	-	41.50	True	-	-
1979-80	Lee Rose	23-10	11-7	#3	C	-0.16	-	42.42	False	-	W
1980-81	Gene Keady	21-11	10-8	#4	C	-0.43	-	27.00	False	-	-
1981-82	Gene Keady	18-14	11-7	#5	C	-0.48	-	25.00	False	-	-
1982-83	Gene Keady	21-9	11-7	#2	C	-0.43	-	31.38	False	-	L
1983-84	Gene Keady	22-7	15-3	#2	C	0.44	-	41.45	True	-	L
1984-85	Gene Keady	20-9	11-7	#6	A/B	1.52	#20	31.40	False	Z06	L
1985-86	Gene Keady	22-10	11-7	#6	A/B	1.56	#24	34.40	False	Y06	L
1986-87	Gene Keady	25-5	15-3	#4	A/B	2.01	#9	44.21	True	W03	L
1987-88	Gene Keady	29-4	16-2	#1	A/B	2.25	#3	53.82	True	X01	L
1988-89	Gene Keady	15-16	8-10	#5	A/B	1.50	#22	23.50	False	-	-
1989-90	Gene Keady	22-8	13-5	#1	A/B	1.83	#10	35.21	False	X02	L
1990-91	Gene Keady	17-12	9-9	#4	A/B	1.06	#42	26.42	False	W07	L
1991-92	Gene Keady	18-15	8-10	#7	A/B	1.01	#52	24.50	False	-	-
1992-93	Gene Keady	18-10	9-9	#6	A/B	1.16	#40	29.92	False	W09	L
1993-94	Gene Keady	29-5	14-4	#1	A/B	2.10	#4	54.40	True	X01	L
1994-95	Gene Keady	25-7	15-3	#2	A/B	1.39	#25	45.81	True	Y03	L
1995-96	Gene Keady	26-6	15-3	#1	A/B	1.76	#12	46.31	True	Z01	L
1996-97	Gene Keady	18-12	12-6	#7	A/B	1.17	#42	30.31	False	X08	L
1997-98	Gene Keady	28-8	12-4	#1	A/B	2.01	#7	43.55	False	Y02	L
1998-99	Gene Keady	21-13	7-9	#7	A/B	1.25	#31	33.05	False	W10	L
1999-00	Gene Keady	24-10	12-4	#6	A/B	1.68	#21	42.36	False	Z06	L
2000-01	Gene Keady	17-15	6-10	#8	A/B	1.13	#42	21.50	False	-	-
2001-02	Gene Keady	13-18	5-11	#8	A/B	0.55	#86	18.00	False	-	-
2002-03	Gene Keady	19-11	10-6	#4	A/B	1.53	#22	29.84	False	X09	L
2003-04	Gene Keady	17-14	7-9	#5	A/B	0.97	#59	27.50	False	-	-
2004-05	Gene Keady	7-21	3-13	#8	A/B	0.37	#118	10.00	False	-	-
2005-06	Matt Painter	9-19	3-13	#11	A/B	-0.02	#161	12.00	False	-	-
2006-07	Matt Painter	22-12	9-7	#5	A/B	1.49	#31	33.38	False	Y09	L
2007-08	Matt Painter	25-9	15-3	#4	A/B	1.45	#31	40.88	False	Z06	L
2008-09	Matt Painter	27-10	11-7	#2	A/B	1.72	#19	47.21	False	Z05	L
2009-10	Matt Painter	29-6	14-4	#2	A/B	1.73	#14	51.21	True	X04	L
2010-11	Matt Painter	26-8	14-4	#2	A/B	1.99	#10	40.89	False	Z03	L
2011-12	Matt Painter	22-13	10-8	#6	A/B	1.34	#30	33.89	False	X10	L
2012-13	Matt Painter	16-18	8-10	#9	A/B	0.83	#73	25.00	False	-	-
2013-14	Matt Painter	15-17	5-13	#11	A/B	0.67	#91	21.50	False	-	-
2014-15	Matt Painter	21-13	12-6	#6	A/B	1.15	#48	35.96	False	Y09	L
2015-16	Matt Painter	26-9	12-6	#3	A/B	1.88	#14	45.97	False	X05	L
2016-17	Matt Painter	27-8	14-4	#1	A/B	1.90	#16	49.80	True	Y04	L
2017-18	Matt Painter	30-7	15-3	#1	A/B	2.13	#4	53.30	False	W02	L
2018-19	Matt Painter	26-10	16-4	#3	A/B	2.22	#9	52.11	True	Z03	L
2019-20	Matt Painter	16-15	9-11	#10	A/B	1.46	#31	27.50	False	-	-
2020-21	Matt Painter	18-10	13-6	#6	A/B	1.49	#29	31.98	False	Z04	L
2021-22	Matt Painter	29-8	14-6	#2	A/B	1.89	#14	48.37	False	W03	L
2022-23	Matt Painter	29-6	15-5	#1	A/B	1.93	#12	53.98	True	W01	L
2023-24	Matt Painter	34-5	17-3	#1	A/B	2.53	#2	73.44	True	Y01	W
2024-25	Matt Painter	24-12	13-7	#4	A/B	1.99	#15	38.91	False	X04	L

Most impressive wins

Most impressive wins (top 25 by impressiveness)
Season	Date	Opponent	Margin	Expected margin	Residual	Opp. rank
2020	2020-01-12	Michigan St	29.0	-1.6	30.6	#6
2020	2020-02-05	Iowa	36.0	2.3	33.7	#25
2004	2003-11-29	Duke	10.0	-13.3	23.3	#1
2024	2023-11-06	Samford	53.0	15.5	37.5	#69
1985	1985-01-30	Illinois	20.0	-1.3	21.3	#3
2024	2024-03-24	Utah St	39.0	10.0	29.0	#47
2013	2013-03-02	Wisconsin	13.0	-10.5	23.5	#16
2025	2025-01-24	Michigan	27.0	4.5	22.5	#18
1989	1989-03-09	Ohio St	30.0	4.4	25.6	#24
2025	2025-01-12	Nebraska	36.0	9.4	26.6	#49
1988	1987-12-20	Kansas St	29.0	8.1	20.9	#12
1990	1990-01-31	Michigan	18.0	-3.1	21.1	#17
2003	2003-03-21	LSU	24.0	0.7	23.3	#27
2023	2022-11-25	Gonzaga	18.0	-0.7	18.7	#7
2007	2007-02-07	Michigan St	24.0	2.6	21.4	#19
2011	2011-02-19	Ohio St	13.0	-1.9	14.9	#1
2019	2019-03-02	Ohio St	35.0	10.8	24.2	#44
2011	2010-12-28	Michigan	23.0	1.0	22.0	#31
1996	1996-01-31	Michigan	21.0	-0.9	21.9	#27
1994	1994-01-22	Ohio St	38.0	12.6	25.4	#45
1996	1996-01-03	Iowa	24.0	4.4	19.6	#19
2018	2017-11-24	Arizona	25.0	4.7	20.3	#27
2020	2019-12-04	Virginia	29.0	5.4	23.6	#50
2001	2000-12-18	Santa Clara	46.0	9.9	36.1	#108
2013	2013-03-09	Minnesota	16.0	-3.1	19.1	#20

Worst losses

Worst losses (bottom 25 by impressiveness)
Season	Date	Opponent	Margin	Expected margin	Residual	Opp. rank
1985	1985-03-02	Illinois	-43.0	-8.4	-34.6	#3
2013	2013-01-30	Indiana	-37.0	-8.3	-28.7	#3
2017	2017-03-23	Kansas	-32.0	-3.3	-28.7	#6
1987	1987-03-07	Michigan	-36.0	-0.5	-35.5	#15
1992	1992-01-28	Indiana	-41.0	-17.6	-23.4	#1
2015	2014-12-20	Notre Dame	-31.0	-6.6	-24.4	#10
2004	2004-02-29	Wisconsin	-36.0	-12.0	-24.0	#7
2010	2010-03-13	Minnesota	-27.0	2.7	-29.7	#33
1998	1997-12-30	Michigan St	-17.0	4.9	-21.9	#11
2022	2022-02-10	Michigan	-24.0	1.2	-25.2	#27
2006	2005-11-29	Florida St	-40.0	-13.5	-26.5	#35
2007	2007-01-10	Indiana	-27.0	-5.3	-21.7	#15
1999	1999-01-19	Ohio St	-29.0	-9.7	-19.3	#10
1987	1987-03-15	Florida	-19.0	-0.9	-18.1	#6
2020	2020-01-05	Illinois	-26.0	-2.7	-23.3	#34
2024	2024-01-09	Nebraska	-16.0	5.6	-21.6	#28
2011	2011-03-11	Michigan St	-18.0	6.0	-24.0	#46
2011	2011-03-20	VCU	-18.0	6.1	-24.1	#48
2011	2011-01-25	Ohio St	-23.0	-8.4	-14.6	#1
1997	1996-12-30	TCU	-28.0	-3.2	-24.8	#51
2000	1999-12-18	Ball St	-20.0	5.7	-25.7	#52
1989	1989-02-20	Illinois	-27.0	-12.5	-14.5	#3
2019	2018-12-01	Michigan	-19.0	-3.7	-15.3	#7
2009	2008-12-02	Duke	-16.0	0.6	-16.6	#7
2001	2001-02-10	Illinois	-21.0	-6.3	-14.7	#5

Weighting test

The rating model's weighting scheme was chosen by testing several candidate weightings against actual game outcomes across decades; see the methodology page for how to read log-loss and accuracy here.

Weighting-test results by scheme and decade
Scheme	Decade	N	Accuracy	Log-loss	Margin RMSE
conference	1980s	315	70.5%	0.529	10.15
conference	1990s	630	73.5%	0.526	11.36
conference	2000s	639	73.4%	0.510	10.78
conference	2010s	667	70.6%	0.554	11.23
conference	2020s	334	71.0%	0.577	12.10
conference	pooled	2,585	72.0%	0.536	11.14
recency	1980s	315	70.5%	0.529	10.16
recency	1990s	630	73.3%	0.526	11.37
recency	2000s	639	72.6%	0.511	10.79
recency	2010s	667	70.3%	0.554	11.21
recency	2020s	334	70.7%	0.576	12.09
recency	pooled	2,585	71.7%	0.536	11.14
recency_postseason	1980s	315	70.5%	0.529	10.16
recency_postseason	1990s	630	73.3%	0.526	11.37
recency_postseason	2000s	639	72.6%	0.510	10.79
recency_postseason	2010s	667	70.5%	0.554	11.20
recency_postseason	2020s	334	71.0%	0.576	12.09
recency_postseason	pooled	2,585	71.8%	0.536	11.14
recency_postseason_uncapped	1980s	315	72.7%	0.538	10.36
recency_postseason_uncapped	1990s	630	71.9%	0.531	11.30
recency_postseason_uncapped	2000s	639	73.6%	0.511	10.76
recency_postseason_uncapped	2010s	667	69.6%	0.559	11.31
recency_postseason_uncapped	2020s	334	69.5%	0.585	12.05
recency_postseason_uncapped	pooled	2,585	71.5%	0.541	11.16
unweighted	1980s	315	70.8%	0.529	10.15
unweighted	1990s	630	73.5%	0.526	11.36
unweighted	2000s	639	72.6%	0.510	10.79
unweighted	2010s	667	70.3%	0.553	11.23
unweighted	2020s	334	70.7%	0.578	12.10
unweighted	pooled	2,585	71.8%	0.536	11.15

Tier C calibration

The pre-1985 Tier C strength measure was calibrated by choosing the smoothing parameter k that best correlates with the post-1985 rating_z on the seasons where both exist.

Tier C calibration: correlation with rating_z by choice of k
k	Spearman rho vs rating_z	N seasons
0.00	0.825	41
5.00	0.844	41
10.00	0.848	41
15.00	0.826	41
20.00	0.757	41
raw_margin_only	0.810	41