Purdue Boilermakers' safe zones and trouble spots: Where can the Matt Painter-led squad shine or fall?

The Purdue Boilermakers start the 2024-25 college basketball season, aiming to win their third-straight Big 10 Conference title and another successful run in the NCAA Tournament.

The Matt Painter-led team begin their quest with key pieces from last year's lineup returning for another season and a lanky rookie who could be the team's replacement for two-time national player of the year Zach Edey.

Purdue's 2024-25 complete schedule has been released and by the looks of it, they're set to continue their conference domination and give Painter his fifth regular season title in the last nine seasons and another bid to the NCAA Tournament.

However, Purdue's schedule is tricky and challenging in a way that they could fall into traps in the middle of the regular season but is manageable enough to contend for this season's crown. Here's an in-depth analysis on the Boilermakers' upcoming games for the season, taking into perspective the easiest and the most difficult stretch for the team in this year's campaign.

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Purdue's safe zones and trouble spots for the 2024-25 college basketball season

Safe zones

Purdue opens the season with relatively easy home games against Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Nov. 4) and Northern Kentucky (Nov. 8). Those games will help prepare the Boilermakers for their first challenge of the season - a three-game stretch against last year's NCAA Tournament qualifiers Yale, Alabama and Marquette.

The next stretch where Matt Painter and his squad are tabbed to dominate their foes is a five-game home and away sked between Nov. 23 and Dec. 8. Purdue will play Marshall at home on Nov. 23 and then head to San Diego for the Rady's Children's Invitational on Nov. 28-29.

They're slated to take on Final Four foes NC State in the semifinals and will take on the winner of the Ole Miss-BYU clash the following day. The semifinal clash against Wolfpack would be easy for the Boilermakers as the ACC squad isn't the same team that ran past their foes in the NCAA Tournament.

The five-game stretch concludes with games against Big 10 Conference rivals Penn State and Maryland. Purdue was able to beat both teams convincingly last year so it won't be a problem beating them anew this season.

The Boilermakers would likely coast in another home-and-away mix between Dec. 29 and Jan. 15. They'll be up against Toledo (Dec. 29), Minnesota (Jan. 2), Northwestern (Jan. 5), Rutgers (Jan. 9), Nebraska (Jan. 12) and new Big 10 member Washington (Jan. 15).

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Trouble spots

Purdue will be in for some challenges along the way featuring a three-game stretch early in the season where they will face NCAA Tournament qualifiers Yale (Nov. 11), Alabama (Nov. 15) and Marquette (Nov. 18). Yale made it to the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Alabama progressed to the Final Four while Marquette competed up to the Sweet 16 before they were stopped by NC State.

The Boilermakers will also have a two-game sked against SEC teams Texas A&M (Dec. 14) and Auburn (Dec. 21). Texas A&M made it to the second round of the South Regional while Auburn is the reigning SEC Tournament champions but were surprised in the first round by No. 13-seed Yale in the East Regional.

Purdue, meanwhile, will have two difficult four-game stretches in its Big 10 conference schedule that could become the turning point of the team's season. The first is from Jan. 18-31 against Oregon (Jan. 18), Ohio State (Jan. 21), Michigan (Jan. 24) and Indiana (Jan. 31). The four teams have enhanced their roster to challenge the dominance of the Boilermakers this season.

The second is their mid-February away-home-away-home stretch against Michigan (Feb. 11), Wisconsin (Feb. 15), Michigan State (Feb. 18) and Indiana (Feb. 23). The games are in the thick of the regular season fight with all teams potentially making their last-ditch run to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

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Purdue's win-loss prediction for 2024-25 college basketball season

Year 1 of the post-Zach Edey era would be tough for Matt Painter and his men, as they would have no reliable presence in the paint this time around. Unless 7-foot-3 Daniel Jacobsen turns out to be at least 75% of Edey's capabilities and Will Berg is as good as advertised, Purdue will rely on returning pieces Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn in majority of the plays.

A 27-4 (18-2 in Big 10) record would be enough to give the Boilermakers their third consecutive Big 10 title and a possible NCAA Tournament bid in March.

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Will Purdue ease through the Big 10 Conference in the 2024-25 college basketball season without Zach Edey? Let us know your views in the comments section below.