Before the season started I thought there was no chance Purdue could reach a bowl game if it lost to Rutgers. A 6-6 season felt like the absolute ceiling if everything in the rebuild went perfectly, and in those six wins we needed to beat Ohio, Rutgers, and Illinois. In my mind, a 6-6 would come from beating those three, along with Missouri, Indiana, and stealing one somewhere else. Nebraska and Minnesota were good teams a year ago, Louisville, Michigan, and Wisconsin looked daunting, Northwestern was a 10-win team, and winning at Iowa would be a tall task.
Of course, we’re now 7 games into the season and things look different.