WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue coach Danny Hope isn't downplaying expectations this season. He embraces them.

Hope calls this the best team he's had since replacing Joe Tiller and believes this is the year Purdue can put itself back on the national college football map.

At quarterback, the Boilermakers have an incumbent starter and two former starters vying for the No. 1 job.

Defensively, the Boilermakers need to put more pressure on quarterbacks, and Hope thinks he has just the group do it. If that happens, Hope says the defense could make a big enough improvement that the Boilermakers could be in the Big Ten title mix.

The season opener is Sept. 1 at home against Eastern Kentucky.