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Not bad considering where the program is now.
Earlier today the AP Poll did something rather impressive. In celebration of the 80th anniversary of the college football AP Poll it released its all-time poll under the following criteria:
To determine the all-time Top 25, the AP formula counted poll appearances (one point) to mark consistency, No. 1 rankings (2 points) to acknowledge elite programs and gave a bonus for AP championships (10 points).
No, Purdue was not in the top 25, but it was comfortably in the top 50
| 26 | Georgia Tech | 320 |
| 27 | Colorado | 316 |
| 28 | Oregon | 293 |
| 29 | Mississippi | 290 |
| 30 | Arizona State | 284 |
| 31 | Virginia Tech | 276 |
| 32 | Stanford | 272 |
| 33 | West Virginia | 271 |
| 34 | BYU | 258 |
| 35 | Missouri | 256 |
| 36 | Purdue | 246 |
| 37 | Minnesota | 241 |
| 38 | North Carolina | 240 |
| 39 | TCU | 234 |
| 40 | Maryland | 230 |
| 41 | Syracuse | 221 |
| 42 | Army | 214 |
| 43 | Oklahoma State | 208 |
| 44 | Kansas State | 207 |
| 45 | California | 199 |
| 46 | Mississippi State | 195 |
| 47 | Baylor | 187 |
| 48 | South Carolina | 185 |
| 49 | Houston | 184 |
| 50 | Northwestern | 183 |
Since Purdue does not have an AP National championship that equals 246 appearances in the top 25 out of 1,103 polls (roughly 22%). for those keeping score at home here is how the B1G stacks up:
1. Ohio State (852 polls, 105 No. 1s, 5 championships)
6. Nebraska (717 polls, 72 No. 1s, 4 championships)
7. Michigan (806 polls, 34 No. 1s, 2 championships)
12. Penn State (589 polls, 19 No. 1s, 2 championships)
19. Michigan State (375 polls, 29 No. 1s, 1 championship)
24. Wisconsin (334 polls, 1 No. 1)
25. Iowa (307 polls, 7 No. 1s)
36. Purdue (237 polls, 5 No. 1s)
37. Minnesota (160 polls, 18 No. 1s, 4 championships)
40. Maryland (192 polls, 6 No. 1s, 1 championship)
50. Northwestern (172 polls, 5 No. 1s)
51. Illinois (181 polls)
72. Indiana (55 polls)
86. Rutgers (38 polls)
Now for the depressing part: Purdue has not been ranked since reaching No. 23 on September 30, 2007. Only Indiana (dating back to 1994) has a longer streak in the conference of not being ranked (yes, even Rutgers and Maryland, go look here). Purdue last received a vote September 23, 2012, which is at least more recent. Indiana hasn’t even received votes in the AP polls since 1994.