Express Thoughts: Preseason football predictions, Luke Ertel and more

Our analysis of Purdue football, Boilermaker men’s basketball, recruiting, or whatever else comes to mind.

ON PRESEASON FOOTBALL CHATTER

I don’t know what kind of platform you use to watch television, whether it’s YouTube TV like, DirecTV, Hulu or a more specific streaming app. Or basic cable still, which I tend to forget exists.

No matter the platform, there’s a directory grid of channels you can scroll through, showing you everything’s that’s on. Inevitably, there’s a few networks bunched together up top, then eventually you run into the sports and news options you probably frequent. Maybe you have an affinity for nature or cooking shows, too.

In between, rows and rows of styrofoam-popcorn-filler channels you’ve never heard of and didn’t know you even had. There are scores of these stations — what an outdated term — on your TV.

This is what college football rosters are becoming, especially at places like Purdue where there has been a coaching change. A few known commodities, a few decently stocked positions and for all you know, a whole lot of cheddar, Charge! and ROAR, which as of this writing was broadcasting a zany show called “World’s Dumbest …” at 12:56 p.m. on a Monday.

My point here as part of the World’s Dumbest column is that no one knows — really knows — what any of this stuff really is, or where it came from, whether it’s low-rent streaming content or mid- to (ideally) high-end college football talent.

But people like us, this time of year, we need something to talk to talk about, and Vegas needs odds fodder, so here we all are trying to set baseline expectations for Purdue football when the range of outcomes for almost all these teams is infinite. I’m pretty sure Ohio State will figure out a way to be good, but most of the rest of the Big Ten exists in a different universe.

So when you inevitably see predictions out there showing Purdue winning two games or whatever, understand that the difference between two wins and six is the output of these rows and rows of unknowns on most everyone’s rosters.

You may only be constantly aware of NBC, CBS, ESPN and FS1 on your TVs, but to keep on with this silly analogy, you’re going to be watching a lot of SyFy, TLC and something called “ion” from here on out.

And hoping your school’s coaches aren’t left asking what you might be when you scrolls through your channels: What the hell are we paying for?

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ON THE ERTEL ERUPTION

Purdue basketball commitment Luke Ertel is shooting up national rankings, now at No. 101 in the 2026 class by our mothership, On3. Based on my conversations with friends at other networks, you’ll see more upward mobility realized, as the guard from Mount Vernon blows up this summer. (Note: Ertel had a huge game June 4 to lead the Indiana Junior All-Stars–see story).

I know that 101 doesn’t sound like much, but let me contextualize it for you. Ertel is the consummate Purdue guy in a lot of great ways, but also in the way he sort of belies our sometimes-misguided rankings culture. He is neither big and strong, nor particularly fast or quick, nor elite athletically. He’s a solid C when it comes to the old eye test. He committed really early, so there’s no real storyline to him outside Purdue World.

What he is is damn skilled, damn smart, damn motivated, damn solid and damn productive, a winner in every sense of the term.

I’m not saying those players have never gotten their flowers from the Rankings State, but they are part of the reason that people get Purdue wrong. There have been great Purdue teams that people have kind of side-eyed, because they didn’t always look the part or didn’t have enough digital stars next to their names three years ago. People would look at and Ryan Cline, for example, like he had webbed feet.

The Ertel case tells me people are starting to look past optics and do what should have been done all along: Rewarding productivity and substance.

THE SPORTS CAPITAL OF AMERICA RIGHT NOW

Indianapolis has always been a great sports city, from its history with amateur sports to the years of Reggie Miller and Peyton Manning. But now …

I don’t really know what the term “salad days” means, but for plucky little Indy, this is it, punctuated by the Pacers making the Finals by virtue of brilliant front-office work and the city’s next years-long fixture, Tyrese Haliburton, as likeable and substantive a star as the NBA has, though not nearly as loud as those of the same ilk. Though likely underdogs to the Thunder, the Pacers are fours wins from a title now, but set up for years to come, though this time with no Jordan or LeBron to bounce off in the Playoffs every year. This could be an extended run here with the East’s power structure in flux due to Jayson Tatum’s injury and the Cavs’ window bound to close quickly.

Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark is here to stay and thus the positive trending for women’s basketball nationally originates from Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Throw in Indianapolis-adjacent things like Purdue basketball playing for a national title last year and IU and Notre Dame making the College Football Playoff last winter and it is a great time to Indianapolis’ sports profile right now.

It’s always been great at hosting major events and being “home” to major stars, but the city’s profile has probably never been on a bigger stage than it is right now. With a passion for sports that punches up a weight class and facilities and history on par with it, the city deserves its moment and here it is.