/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55812067/usa_today_9967000.0.jpg)
Just now, it was reported which five teams Purdue basketball will play twice this upcoming season:
Sources: Purdue's mirror Big Ten opponents for 17-18 will be Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Wisconsin.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) July 20, 2017
If this is true (remember, this preliminary and could change between now and the official announcement), it would mean that Purdue would only play once against Illinois, IU, Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Penn State.
Yes, you read that right. Purdue would only play arch-rival Indiana once. Again. Despite talks of protected rivalries within Big Ten basketball, it seems like we will have to wait another season for it to come to fruition. We know that some time in the near future, the conference will move from 18 to 20 conference games, giving each team seven mirror conference games compared to five now. This give each team and the conference some room for protected rivalries, but for now we just have to wait and see.