AMES — On Friday, Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger and Purdue head coach Matt Painter agreed to a home-and-home series for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

“It’s something that we’re excited for and I’m thankful to coach Painter for the opportunity,” Otzelberger said. “He’s been someone that’s been a friend, a mentor. I’ve learned a lot from him and watched how he’s ran his program for a number of years.”

The Cyclones will begin this series with a trip to Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, to face the Boilermakers on their home court in the 2025 season.

The season following will have Purdue travel to Ames and Hilton Coliseum to take on Iowa State in 2026.

This series will count toward the non-conference slate for both the Cyclones of the Big 12 and the Boilermakers of the Big Ten.

Iowa State and Purdue have faced each other five teams, with the Boilermakers holding a 3-2 lead over the Cyclones. The most recent matchup between these two programs came in 2017, when Purdue prevented Iowa State’s comeback in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament in Milwaukee, leading to a 80-76 win for the Boilermakers.

While Iowa State will not take on Purdue this season, barring a meeting in the NCAA Tournament, having seen the success of what Painter and the Boilermakers have done on the national level helps add a new challenge to what Otzelberger and the Cyclones plan on building for the future starting with this series next season.

“The success that they’ve built and sustained is something I admire,” Otzelberger said. “We wanted an opportunity to play against a team that, again, when you look at not only what they are this year and what they’ve been, what they’ll return and the guys that they’ll have back, and then the program that they’ll have. And so as you’re trying to continue to take steps forward with your program, having those types of challenges is one way to elevate it.”

Purdue sits at No. 13 this season after dropping six spots in the AP Top 25 poll Monday following its back-to-back losses to then-No. 21 Michigan and then-No. 16 Wisconsin. However, it still sits third in the Big Ten with an 11-4 conference record and is 19-7 overall.

In Painter’s 19 years with the Boilermakers, he has helped build Purdue into a powerhouse, as he’s taken his team to the NCAA Tournament 15 times out of the last 17 seasons. Five of the seven resulted in trips to the Sweet 16, and they just made the national championship game a season ago.

With another trip to the big dance all but secured, Painter continues to boast himself as one of college basketball’s premier head coaches.

Painter’s overall success has also contributed to the Boilermakers’ dominance on their home court in Mackey Arena.

In his time with Purdue, Painter has posted a 268-44 overall record at home, 129-9 against non-conference opponents.

Even during the last four seasons, the Boilermakers hold the nation’s fourth-best home record with a 57-4 record, only behind Houston, Gonzaga and Kansas. 

During this four-season stretch, Purdue has sold out each and every game and carried a 73-game sellout streak heading into the 2024-25 season.

With Mackey Arena and Hilton Coliseum being boasted as two of the hardest places to play in college basketball, it will be challenging for both programs to pull out wins on the road.

“I respect coach Painter at the highest regard,” Otzelberger said. “I respect their program and the consistency of the way they’ve done things. So we know it’s gonna be a really challenging opportunity to go to Mackey and then when they return here.”

The dates for both contests will be announced in the future.