Purdue's March Madness History: Record, Final Four Appearances, Best Highlights
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Purdue is making a return to the NCAA Tournament this season, marking the 11th straight appearance for the program. Can the Boilermakers make a run at a second Final Four in three years?
Over its history, Purdue has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament 36 times. The program has made it to the Sweet 16 a total of 15 times and has reached six Elite Eights. The Boilermakers have advanced to the Final Four three times.
Let's take a look at Purdue's records in the NCAA Tournament, it's best moments and more.
Purdue's March Madness record
This season marks Purdue's 37th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers own a 50-36 record in the postseason, making three Final Four appearances and two trips to the National Championship Game.
Purdue's lone national championship came in 1932, prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers have never won the title since the tournament's start.
Although Purdue had success under George King, Lee Rose and Gene Keady, the Boilermakers have been rolling under current head coach Matt Painter. The program has reached the NCAA Tournament in 11 straight seasons, the third-longest active streak in college basketball.
Purdue has also earned a top-four seed in March Madness each of the last nine years, the longest active streak in the nation. The Boilermakers have earned a No. 2 seed for the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Final Four appearances
Purdue has reached the Final Four three times in its history: 1969, 1980 and 2024. It has appeared in the National Championship Game twice (1969 and 2024) but has not yet captured a national title.
1969
Led by All-American Rick Mount, Purdue finished the season with a 23-5 record and a 13-1 mark in Big Ten play. The NCAA Tournament was only a 25-team field at the time, so the Boilermakers only needed three victories to reach the National Championship Game. Purdue defeated Miami (Ohio), Marquette and North Carolina, but lost to college basketball powerhouse UCLA in the title game.
1980
It may have been a surprise that Purdue made it to the Final Four in 1980. The team finished with a 23-10 record and an 11-7 record in conference play. The Boilermakers made the 48-team field and made it all the way to the pinnacle of the sport. Once again, UCLA busted Purdue's bubble, this time in the national semifinal round. The Boilers then went on to beat Iowa in the third-place game. That team was anchored by All-American Joe Barry Carroll.
2024
Purdue had to wait 44 years between Final Four appearances, but the Boilers finally broke through in 2024. They were led by two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey, who posted dominant performances in every game Purdue played in the tournament. The Boilers plowed through Grambling State, Utah State and Gonzaga, setting up a date with Tennessee in the Elite Eight. Purdue earned a tough win in that round, then defeated North Carolina State in the national semifinal to advance to the National Championship Game. However, the Boilers fell to UConn in the title bout.
Best highlights and moments
Purdue has played several memorable March Madness games, but several of the best highlights and moments have come in recent years — sometimes, even in losses.
Before jumping into the 2000s, one of the Purdue moments that goes down as one of the best in the history of the NCAA Tournament was Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson's slam over Kansas center Greg Ostertag in Knoxville in 1994. The Boilermakers would go on to defeat the Jayhawks 83-78 to advance to the Elite Eight.
There is no Boilermaker — and not many other college basketball players — who had a run quite like Carsen Edwards during Purdue's March Madness appearance in 2019. The All-American guard scored 42 points in a win over Villanova in the second round and again in the Elite Eight loss to Virginia. He finished the tournament making a record-breaking 28 three-pointers and scoring 139 points in four games (34.8 ppg).
During that same tournament run when Edwards lit the world on fire, Purdue also needed a big performance from sharp-shooter Ryan Cline in the Sweet 16 game against Tennessee. The senior guard poured in 27 points, drilling several critical three-pointers to help the Boilermakers advance.
In 2024, Purdue finally got over the hump and reached the Final Four for the first time in 44 years. Zach Edey was the anchor for that team, scoring at least 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in each of the team's six games. The Elite Eight win over Tennessee was one of the best performances in Purdue's tournament history, scoring 40 points, collecting 16 rebounds and coming up with one critical block. After a Final Four drought that extended more than four decades, the Boilers were finally headed to college basketball's premier event.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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