My predictions are going off the rails.
In last week’s prediction, I mentioned that Purdue’s longest losing streak against the Minnesota Gophers was four games. Purdue was in a current four-game losing streak against Minnesota and had another four-game losing streak between 2012 and 2016. So, I picked Purdue to lose.
However, I should have interpreted that as “Purdue will not lost five games in a row against Minnesota.”
History
Purdue and the Maryland Terrapins have only played each other three times. All three games have been decided by a point difference of 17 points or more and Purdue’s record in the series is 1-2.
- The first time they played each other was in the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl—eight years before Maryland joined the Big Ten. Maryland won the game 24-7.
- In Purdue’s one game played at Maryland, they only had a total of 10 rushing yards off 27 attempts. Maryland had a total of 400 rushing yards off 46 attempts.
- The last time these two teams played was in 2019 at Purdue. Purdue won this game 40-14.
On Your Six
In the last 10 seasons, in the sixth game played of a season, Purdue is 5-5. Of those games, four were away games in which Purdue is 3-1.
In the same time span, in the sixth game played of a season, Maryland is 3-6 (they only played five games in 2020). Of those games, five were home games in which Maryland is 1-4.
Up, Up, and Away
In the last 10 seasons, Purdue has had 10 instances where they had to play back-to-back away games.
- In two instances, Purdue won both away games.
- In two instances, Purdue only won the first away game.
- In two instances, Purdue only won the second away game.
- In four instances, Purdue lost both away games.
Eastbound and Down
In the last 10 seasons, Purdue has played 5 away games at east coast schools—Penn State, Rutgers, Connecticut, and Maryland. In these games, Purdue is 1-4.
Prediction
Keeping in mind that I am ignoring data and performance from the current season and just grabbing random data from previous seasons, I begrudgingly choose to Purdue to lose.
