Flashback: Was Purdue Unfairly Punished for Robbie Hummel's Injury in 2010 NCAA Tournament?

At the end of the 2009-10 season, Purdue had lost Robbie Hummel to a knee injury, resulting in the NCAA selection committee giving the Boilers a No. 4 seed.

Purdue Boilermakers guard/forward Robbie Hummel (4). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Purdue basketball's 2009-10 season is still one of the greatest "what ifs" in the program's history. Star forward Robbie Hummel and the Boilermakers rolled to a 24-3 record through the first 27 games of the season, but a torn ACL suffered inside Williams Arena on Feb. 24 sidelined the Valparaiso, Ind., native for the remainder of the year.

If Hummel had remained healthy, there's an argument to be made that Purdue would have made a run to the Final Four and could have competed for a national championship. But his injury not only hurt the Boilers on the floor, but it also impacted their seed for the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

The Boilermakers won the Big Ten regular-season title that season and entered March Madness with a 27-5 record. They received a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and shared a bracket with top-seeded Duke. Purdue reached the Sweet 16, but the Blue Devils defeated the Boilermakers en route to a national title.

So, the question remains: did the selection committee cheat Purdue out of a better seed that year?

In an interview with Jimmer Fredette on From the Logo, Hummel talked about the consequences of his knee injury. Yes, Purdue obviously missed him on the floor, but it also dropped significantly on the seed line.

"Even though we made the Sweet 16 my junior year, I had blown my knee out in late February. We won the Big Ten that year, and it kinda dampened that in terms of the celebration," Hummel said. "And then, seeing us get knocked from a No. 1 seed, because we were 24-3 and probably about to be ranked the No. 1 team in the country the following week because teams No. 1 and No. 2 had lost.

"We were about to be the No. 1 team in the country, I blow my knee out, we lose to Michigan State. They knocked us down to a four seed. That's one where we should have just lied. We should have said, 'He might be back.'"

Purdue Boilermakers forward (4) Robbie Hummel and guard (5) Keaton Grant. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Maybe Purdue wouldn't have earned a No. 1 seed, but the Boilermakers finished that season with a better overall record than seven of the eight teams that received a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the tournament. The lone outlier was New Mexico, which had a 29-4 record.

The Boilers were also Big Ten champs, led by JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore and Chris Kramer. Although Purdue was blown out of its second game in the Big Ten Tournament (a 69-42 loss to Minnesota), the Boilers had done enough to earn a No. 2 seed in the tournament.

Hummel's absence knocked the Boilers down at least two seed lines. Purdue still reached the Sweet 16, defeating Siena and Texas A&M.

"But then we play Duke, who wins the whole thing," Hummel said. "But if we were seeded based on what our resumé said — we had beaten four top-10 teams, two on the road and one neutral."

Without Hummel, Purdue didn't have enough in the tank to win a national championship. If seeded correctly, though, could the Boilermakers have at least reached the Final Four?

It's a question that will never have an answer.

Purdue finally broke through in 2024

Purdue head coach Matt Painter lifts up the Midwest Regional championship trophy. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

In the years that followed Hummel's injury, Purdue had chances to end its Final Four drought. The most notable came in 2019, when Carsen Edwards had a ridiculous run in the NCAA Tournament. However, the Boilers came up one win short, falling to Virginia in the Elite Eight.

Fourteen years after Hummel's injury, the Boilers finally broke through and returned to the Final Four, making it college basketball's pinnacle event for the first time since 1980. Fittingly, Hummel was on the radio call as Purdue defeated Tennessee in the Elite Eight to punch their ticket.

“I care about this school,” Hummel told WISHTV after Purdue's Elite Eight win in 2024. “I care about Coach (Matt) Painter. I care about all of the assistants. You put so much time into a place, and I love Purdue University. It’s a special place. We’ve got a special group of fans.”

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