:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46898792/usa-today-8447906.0.jpg)
Once again it's that time of year, well sort of (technically college football is next up), but as we approach the 2015-16 season we'll officially start the countdown to the upcoming season. Thanks to college basketball having a more traditional opening day nowadays, that first day for most teams will be November 13th (with several playing later on the weekend), which is now 100 days away.
We did this countdown last year and it usually tackled a wide variety of Big Ten topics as the season drew near. Last year's countdown actually started at 68 days, which was a reference to the number of teams in the NCAA Tournament, but this year the countdown will include 32 additional posts.
So with that being said, how did I start last season's countdown? Well, as a Purdue fan, I took issue with Lindy's preseason predictions for the Big Ten and made this comment on Twitter:
Yeah, no... I'll eat a shoe if Purdue finishes behind NW and PSU RT @tbeindit B1G Predictions from @Lindyssportsmag 11-NW 12-PSU 13-PU
— Bryan Steedman (@crazytoledo) September 5, 2014
And to my surprise, Lindy's responded!
@crazytoledo @tbeindit We will. An old Converse Chuck Taylor would work.
— #LindysSports (@Lindyssportsmag) September 5, 2014
Unfortunately for Lindy's (and fortunately for me), Purdue did not finish behind Northwestern and Penn State and I did not have to consume a shoe. Actually, Northwestern finish tied for 10th and Penn State finished 13th while Purdue was tied for third with Michigan State and Iowa. For once being a somewhat optimistic Purdue fan didn't come back to bite me in the rear, a trend I hope will continue once again in 2015-16. That being said, maybe this year the national publications will be a bit nicer to the Boilermakers, as it looks like Purdue might actually be a better team heading into 2015-16.
Anyway, we're just over three months from the upcoming season and the opening tipoff will be here before we know it. Considering preseason predictions, rankings and previews are going to be getting underway in the near future, the hype for next season is only going to start growing over the next couple months.