Purdue vs Michigan Wolverines Prediction & Picks - NCAA Men

Prediction published on 2/17/26, 3:21 PM  by Travis Pulver | Modified on 2/19/26 at 3:16 PM in Basketball Picks

The new No. 1 team in the nation, the Michigan Wolverines, will have their first real test after ascending to the top spot, which comes on the road: Tuesday, February 17, against the No. 7 Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette. Fans can follow the action on Peacock once the game gets underway at 6:30 p.m. EST.

With Arizona losing twice, it was not hard to figure out who would be the new No. 1 team in the country when the new poll came out on Monday. Michigan had been the No. 2 team for the last six weeks and had won ten in a row, including two victories over top ten teams (No. 5 Nebraska, 75-72 on Jan. 27 and No. 7 Michigan State, 83-71 on Jan. 30). They last played on Saturday against UCLA in Ann Arbor and won 86-56. As for Purdue, the Boilermakers were the preseason No. 1 in the AP Poll. No. 6 Iowa State handed them their first loss on Dec. 6; they didn’t lose again until a dreadful three-game stretch in late January (Jan. 20-27 vs. UCLA, No. 11 Illinois, and Indiana). They’ve won their last four, including a victory over Iowa on Valentine's Day on the road (78-57).