WEST LAFAYETTE - Want to tick off Mike Neal? Mention the fact that experts rate Purdue as one of the Big Ten's worst teams and watch this senior defensive tackle boil before your eyes.

“That's why we don't pick up the newspaper,” Neal says. “It means absolutely nothing.”

Neal spits out the words like bullets. He is listed at 6-4 and 302 pounds. Coach Danny Hope calls Neal the Boilers' strongest player. He was the best hitter in the spring. He might be the most dominant Boiler in the fall.

Yes, Purdue is coming off a 4-8 season and is transitioning from Joe Tiller to Hope, but the Boilers are not patsies. Say so at your own risk.

“On any given day you have to play, and whoever shows up will win,” Neal says. “If you play with that confidence, you can come out on top.

“It doesn't matter where you're ranked. There have been teams ranked at the top that have struggled. There have been teams ranked at the bottom that have done well. Sometimes the teams on the bottom get stepped on and then make it to the top.

“We want to win games. It doesn't matter where they rank us.”

Purdue has a new quarterback (Joey Elliott), new wide receivers and a new offensive coordinator (Gary Noord). But it does have a veteran offensive line and eight returning defensive starters. Granted, that defense ranked eighth in the Big Ten and last against the run, but that misses the point.

What is the point?

Winning.

“We can be as good as we want to be,” Neal said. “If we decide to come together as a team and buy into what we've been doing in the spring and the summer, we can be good. The sky is the limit.”

But what about all those unknowns in terms of new players and a new approach?

“That means absolutely nothing,” Neal said. “A lot of times it's the best kind of team you can be on when you have a lot of unknowns. You see underdogs come out on top. If you've got people who are unknown, but they're good players and the other team isn't looking for that, that's when you win the battle.”

The Boilers, Elliott insists, will win a lot of those battles.

“We have a very talented team,” he says. “We have people who were (second string) and (third string) last year who have to step up and play.

“We have quality players, but we have players who just haven't proved themselves. Hopefully they'll get that opportunity.”

As for the idea that being picked as a Big Ten bottom feeder will motivate Purdue, well, don't say that in front of Hope.

“I don't need a preseason prediction to motivate myself or my team. I hope some of the predictions add fuel to the fire.

“We have some guys who are real passionate. We have guys who came to Purdue to do something special, and that's what we're going to do. That's what they came here for.

“Any time you're picked toward the bottom or not recognized as a top-tier program, you'd better get to work and go hard. We're a motivated bunch regardless of where we're picked in preseason.”