Ye old Entertainment Programming Network that occasionally shows Lacrosse lists this years Purdue - Oregon contest as one of the Pac-10's five scariest non-conference games. Last years game was a good one. A game that continued the miserable tradition of losing games that they should have won. The EPN article goes on to say:

Purdue at Oregon (Sept. 12): Purdue shouldn't be fast enough to keep up with the Oregon, but it made things quite difficult for the Ducks last year. Moreover, this game is sandwiched between the marquee season opener at Boise State and a visit from Utah. Even though Purdue has been sliding of late and changed coaches, the Boilermakers are still a Big Ten team worthy of respect.

I'm not sure what to make of this really. Is Purdue a possible sleeper this year? I personally don't think that's the case. And sure, all Big Ten teams are worthy of respect, especially when compared to the Pac-10, but still... what does this really mean? I think it must mean that the Pac-10 AD's schedule games against a bunch of JV community college teams. If this years Boilermakers are a top 5 challenge (along with powerhouses such as UNLV and CMU) then the scheduling on the left coast leaves just a tad to be desired.