Yes, this is a conference game. Rutgers is entering its fourth season in the Big Ten. In many ways they still don’t feel like a real member of the conference. They are, however, and they are the only team in the league Purdue has never played. Even with Maryland we had the random bowl game meeting after the 2006 season. Rutgers, however, has never been on the schedule, and they won’t be again until at least 2020 since the Big Ten schedules through 2019 have already been released.
What’s even better is that this is a genuine opportunity to win a Big Ten football game, something that has been all too rare in recent seasons.