Both universities have very large student bodies in the tens of thousands; Purdue is a land-grant research university located in the northern portion of Indiana that traditionally focuses on engineering, science, agriculture, and technology, while IU Bloomington is located in the southern portion of the state and primarily focuses on liberal arts, business, law, and music.

The geographic and academic divergence of the two institutions polarizes the state of Indiana into two large fan bases.

Since the Big Ten began basketball in the 1904–05 season, the schools have combined to win or share over 39% of the conference championships.

Purdue was retroactively awarded the 1932 Helms Foundation and Premo-Porretta Power Poll national titles.

The intensity of the rivalry reached new heights throughout the 1970s, '80s, and '90s when Bob Knight and Gene Keady coached Indiana and Purdue, respectively.

However, the Indiana University Basketball Encyclopedia by Jason Hiner notes that an absence of newspaper reports about the game suggests that it never took place.

On March 8, 1969, and on their way to the 1969 National Championship game, the Boilermakers trounced the Hoosiers 120-76 behind 40 from Rick Mount and 31 from Billy Keller.

[16] When the two schools played their second game of the season at Purdue on February 7, 1981, Knight claimed a number of derisive chants were directed at him, his wife, and Indiana University.

The February 23, 1985 game at Bloomington between Purdue and Indiana would provide a defining moment in the Indiana-Purdue basketball rivalry.

Just five minutes into the game, a scramble for a loose ball resulted in a foul call on Indiana's Steve Alford.

A common joke told by Knight is that he saw an old lady standing on the opposite sideline and threw her the chair so she could sit down.

The picture of Knight throwing the red plastic chair across the floor in front of Reid has since become the symbol of the Indiana–Purdue rivalry.

[19][20] On January 31, 1987, Indiana and Purdue met for the first time with both teams ranked in the Top 10; coincidentally, they were tied in the AP poll at #4.

In their second match-up, on February 26, 1987, in West Lafayette, both teams came into the game still ranked in the Top 10 (Purdue at #6 and Indiana at #3).

At a practice leading up to an Indiana-Purdue game in West Lafayette in 1991, Bob Knight unleashed a torrent of expletives and threats designed to motivate his Indiana team.

[21] Although the source of who taped the speech remains unknown, many former players suspect it was former manager and current NBA coach Lawrence Frank.

24 ranked Indiana was led by 31 points from freshman A. J. Guyton, including a three-pointer to tie the game at 87 in overtime.

It was practically an instant replay from the previous season when Austin sank a three-pointer with 13.7 seconds left to lift Purdue to a 74–72 win in Bloomington.

[25] On January 15, 2005, Indiana and Purdue faced off in Mackey Arena in what would be Keady's final home game of the rivalry.

Purdue had led the entire game until Indiana used a 14–0 run to take a four-point lead with twelve minutes remaining in the second half.

The teams battled back and forth until David Teague gave Purdue a 55–52 lead with only 25 seconds remaining.

In the first overtime, the Hoosiers and Boilermakers were tied at 61 when a foul was called on Purdue's Andrew Ford with 0.9 seconds remaining.

But Purdue heaved a pass to the opposite end of the court where Carl Landry made a layup and was fouled as he shot.

After reviewing the call on video replay, the referees ruled that although Landry had released the shot after the buzzer, he had been fouled before time expired.

Bracey Wright then made one free throw for Indiana, and Purdue's Brandon McKnight missed a last-second heave to make the final score 75–73 in favor of the Hoosiers.

[28] On February 27, 2017, No.16 ranked Purdue faced the defending Big Ten Champion but unranked Hoosiers in Mackey Arena.

This victory clinched a share of the Big Ten Conference Championship for Purdue's 23rd all-time title, which put them alone in first place.

16 ranked Purdue played unranked Indiana at Assembly Hall in what can only be called a rock-fight of a game.

After the game, IU athletic director Fred Glass called his counterpart at Purdue, Mike Bobinski, and apologized for the profane chants.

After each victory, the winning team takes the trophy home and adds a letter to the chain attached to the gold-dipped soccer shoe.