Indiana–Purdue rivalry

The Indiana–Purdue rivalry is a rivalry between the Indiana University Bloomington Hoosiers and the Purdue University Boilermakers, the two flagship public universities in the state of Indiana. It is regarded as one of the most intense collegiate rivalries in the United States, and one of the strongest and most followed collegiate rivalries in the Big Ten Conference. Among all of college sports rivalries, Newsweek listed it among the top 12 and Huffington Post listed it as the fifth best rivalry overall.

The intensity of the rivalry is augmented by the deep passion within Indiana for basketball (see Hoosier Hysteria). Both universities have very large student bodies in the tens of thousands; Purdue is a land-grant research university located in the northern portion of Indiana that traditionally focuses on engineering, science, agriculture, and technology, while IU Bloomington is located in the southern portion of the state and primarily focuses on liberal arts, business, law, and music. However, both universities offer a wide range of academic programs. The geographic and academic divergence of the two institutions polarizes the state of Indiana into two large fan bases.

Purdue is the founding member of the Big Ten Conference and both universities have been members of the Big Ten for over 100 years, ensuring yearly competition across all sports and adding conference standing implications to the rivalry.