WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In my six months as a Digital Storyteller at WBIR, I made some necessary life adjustments when I moved to East Tennessee. I started pronouncing "Vol" like "ball". I listened to '9-5' while getting ready for work. I made sweet tea.
Ya'll, I'm doing my best. But as a homegrown Hoosier, I know a thing or two about our newfound foes up north. My dad graduated from Purdue University, as did my aunt, my uncle, my other aunt, her husband (my uncle), three of my cousins, my second cousin, my step-cousin, and a few great-aunts I think.
I'm surrounded by Boilermakers, so here's the low down on what this school is all about for those of you who don't know.
Okay, what's a Boilermaker?
Purdue University is the college, and the Boilermakers are what they call themselves. The story is that Purdue University played and beat a nearby college in a game. The defeated college's student section, apparently, started calling them names that derived the hands-on, trade-based education Purdue students received. The year after that, Purdue handily beat them again and the nicknames persisted. By the next season, the term 'boilermaker' had stuck around. Purdue Pete is their mascot.
Where even is 'Purdue'? I thought it was a chicken company?
Purdue University is in West Lafayette, Indiana. That's in the western part of Indiana. Surprisingly, Purdue fans have even less of a drive to Louisville than Vol fans: Louisville is only about two and a half hours from West Lafayette.
Is their basketball team even good?
Back in Indiana, we do have a hard time admitting that our profound love for basketball hardly means we've hung the most NCAA Banners from our rafters over the years.
But, yes this is a good basketball team. Especially if you take a look at where Purdue's team stood at the start of the season, their momentum is a little scary. In the most recent test against Villanova, junior guard Carsen Edwards alone clocked up 42 points against the Big East Champions. And with the Vols allowing at least 75 points in each of their last six games, this matchup may be the best the tournament has seen this far.
Has anyone important graduated from Purdue University?
Yes. Neil Armstrong graduated from there in 1955, as did a handful of NASA's most prolific astronauts over the years. Low key, the real tea here is that even if they lose this game, I can assure you Purdue grads everywhere will clutch each other and cheers the moon landing.
