Point Spread: Purdue Modest Favorite in Big Ten Home Opener vs. Maryland

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It’s no surprise that the first trend popping out of the start of the BigTen conference season is that home teams are dominating. That’s good news for Purdue, who’s back inside Mackey Arena on Sunday to take on Maryland.

It’s safe to say that No. 8 Purdue — the league’s only top-10 team — had one of the worst performances in the conference so far, getting drilled at Penn State 81-70 on Thursday in a game that wasn’t nearly that close. They were down 16 at the half and 27 late in the game.

Maryland (8-1) might have had the most impressive performance so far. They crushed Ohio State 83-59, led by 33 at the half and as much as 40 in the second half.

Despite those two dramatically different showings, it’s Purdue that’s actually favored in Sunday’s Noon ET showdown with the Terrapins. According to the folks at the FanDuel.com gambling website, Purdue is a 4.5-point favorite. The over-under is 143.5.

There have been 12 Big Ten games so far and the home team is 8-4. Purdue lost on the road, as did No. 19 Illinois, falling at Northwestern. The best road win so far came from Michigan, who upset No. 11 Wisconsin in Madison.

Purdue is 6-1 at Mackey against Maryland since they joined the league in 2014, but the games are always close. During this six-game winning streak at home, the Boilermakers’ average marging of victory is just 3.5 points. That’s worth remembering on Sunday.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Boilermakers and Terrapins this season:

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

Maryland is 8-1 overall and is 6-3 against the point spread. They have gone over on the over/under line five times in nine games. This is their first true road game after playing seven at home and a neutral site game against Villanova in Newark N.J.

Here’s what the Maryland Terrapins have done so far this season.