Oddsmakers see Purdue’s long home winning streak ending against Alabama on Friday

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No. 13th-ranked Purdue and No. 2 Alabama meet at Mackey Arena, and the two schools have a lot in common.

Both made it to the Final Four a year ago — and both lost theirs to national champion Connecticut.

Both teams would love to get back to the Final Four in San Antonio this year, and they both have a shot. Alabama has multiple returning starters and is ranked second in the nation for good reason.

The Crimson Tide is the highest-ranked visitor to Mackey Arena for nearly 13 years. The last team ranked in the top two to visit Purdue was No. 2 Ohio State on February 20, 2011, a 76-63 Purdue victory. The Crimson Tide will be the highest-ranked non-conference team to play in Mackey Arena since Mackey Arena’s very first game, a 73-71 loss to No. 1 UCLA on Dec. 6, 1967.

It’s been a long time.

Purdue has won 21 straight home games, but oddsmakers think that could end Friday night. According to the FanDuel gambling site, Alabama is a 3.5-point favorite as of 1 p.m. 5 p.m. ET. The opening line was 2. The over/under is 164.5.

The two teams played last December in Toronto in a real home game for former Purdue center Zach Edey. Boilers won 92-86.

The Boilermakers have won 29 straight games at Mackey against non-conference foes and are 59-2 since the start of the 2015-16 season against non-conference opponents.

Purdue has not lost a non-conference regular season game since Dec. 8, 2020 at Miami – a span of 1,439 days and 38 games, according to the Purdue media relations team. The streak is tied for the fifth-longest streak in NCAA history. Purdue has defeated seven teams ranked in the AP top 11 during that streak.

Here’s everything you need to know about the numbers for this game.

Here’s what the Purdue Boilermakers have done so far this season:

Here’s what the Yale Bulldogs have done so far this season: