The Boilermakers, currently holding a 2-2 record this season under the leadership of newly appointed coach Barry Odom, have demonstrated considerable advancements, particularly when considering their performance in the 2024 season, which saw them secure only one victory against eleven defeats.
This coming Saturday, however, Odom and his team’s efforts to rejuvenate the program will face a formidable challenge—one that extends beyond mere on-field competition. While Purdue’s adversary, Illinois, is a highly regarded team, currently ranked among the Top 25, the Boilermakers must also overcome an unusual obstacle, a perceived jinx.
Notably, Purdue has not achieved victory in any game played directly following the release of a Taylor Swift studio album.
As discussed on the college football podcast “The Solid Verbal” this past Thursday, Purdue has participated in 10 games that took place within a week of Swift releasing or rereleasing an album. The outcome of each of these games was a loss for Purdue.
Unfortunately for Purdue fans, Swift’s newest musical offering, entitled “The Life of a Showgirl,” became available at midnight on Friday.
This recurring phenomenon traces back to October 24, 2006, when Swift’s debut album, which shares her name, came out just before Purdue suffered a 12-0 defeat to Penn State two days afterward. The pattern continued through subsequent album releases: “Fearless” on November 11, 2008 (resulting in a 22-17 loss at Iowa four days later), “Speak Now” on October 25, 2010 (leading to a 44-10 loss at Illinois five days later), “Red” on October 22, 2012 (followed by a 44-28 loss at Minnesota five days later), “1989” on October 27, 2014 (resulting in a 35-14 loss at Nebraska five days later), “Reputation” on November 10, 2017 (leading to a 23-13 loss at Northwestern the following day), and “Lover” on August 23, 2019 (culminating in a loss at Nevada seven days later).
This pattern was temporarily interrupted in 2020 because the timing of Purdue’s games did not coincide with the week following Swift’s album releases. Specifically, when “folklore” was released on July 24, 2020, Purdue did not play another football game until October 24, 2020, which ended in a 24-20 victory over Iowa. Similarly, after the releases of “evermore” and “Fearless” (Taylor’s Version) on December 11, 2020, and April 9, 2021, respectively, Purdue achieved a win against Oregon State on September 4, 2021.
The trend reemerged with the release of “Red” (Taylor’s Version) on November 12, 2021 (resulting in a 59-31 loss at Ohio State the subsequent day), “Midnights” on October 21, 2022 (leading to a 35-24 loss at Wisconsin the following day), and “1989” (Taylor’s Version) on October 27, 2023 (followed by a 31-13 loss at Nebraska the next day).
The Boilermakers managed to halt this series of losses in 2024 with a decisive 49-0 victory over Indiana State following the release of “The Tortured Poets Department” on April 19, 2024—although this instance technically fits the overall pattern since the game did not fall within the immediate week following the album release.
The question remains: Can Purdue overcome their peculiar run of bad luck in games played shortly after Swift’s album releases this Saturday?
Current performance suggests a positive trajectory for the team’s improvement. However, historical trends—particularly those tied to popular music—suggest that Purdue faces an existing challenge to overcome.
