Northwestern has already beaten Purdue – one of just two losses on the season for the second-ranked Boilermakers – and it will go for the sweep Wednesday night in West Lafayette.
It won’t be easy as Purdue enters the game as a 13.5-point favorite. The Boilermakers have become even more dominant since that Dec. 1 loss to the Wildcats in Evanston, winning the last five games by an average margin of more than 18 points.
Let’s dive in a little deeper with a betting preview of the Northwestern vs. Purdue matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Northwestern vs. Purdue odds (via FanDuel)
Northwestern vs. Purdue prediction
The question is, does Northwestern – which has now won the last games against the Boilermakers going back to last season – match up so well that it owns Purdue’s number?
The answer might likely be a moot point with the way Purdue has been playing of late. And so might any argument against picking Northwestern Wednesday night against the spread.
Home teams, regardless of talent level, have been extremely profitable against the spread in the Big Ten over the last two seasons, winning a collective 60% of all games played (119-81-3), including 64% this season (39-25-2) after conference home teams went 3-0 on Tuesday.
And if we take a closer look at the consecutive victories Northwestern has won in this series, both came at Welsh-Ryan Arena where the Wildcats are 24-6 under coach Chris Collins, who is 24-6 since 2022-23, including 11-1 this season.
The last time the Wildcats traveled to West Lafayette, they lost by 20. Ouch!
Northwestern is scrappy and gets the most out of its players, including Boo Buie (18.5 points per game), who might be the best guard in the conference.
However, the Wildcats just can’t compete down low, and they’ll once again have a decided disadvantage on the boards, especially against 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey, who scored 35 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the Dec. 1 matchup.
Northwestern vs. Purdue pick
While most Big Ten teams have enjoyed home-cooking in recent years, there might not be a more hostile environment than Mackey Arena.
All things point to a blowout victory by the Boilermakers.
Pick: Purdue -13 (-110 at Caesars)