Purdue opened Mackey Arena on December 2, 1967 against alum John Wooden and mighty UCLA. The Boilers lost that first game by 2, but back then if you challenged mighty UCLA you had done something.
That means the 50th anniversary is coming up this year, so naturally, Purdue would like to play at home that weekend. It is a Saturday, so it would be perfect to have a celebration game honoring the arena’s history.
As it turns out, we may not be able to:
If Purdue plays a home game on Dec. 2, 2017, however, it will do so against a Big Ten Conference opponent.