Purdue Boilermakers Basketball Tickets

The Purdue Boilermakers had realistic Final Four and national championship hopes last year until Robbie Hummel went down with a knee injury in the latter stages of the season.

Purdue went on to reach the Sweet 16, but that was as far as they could go. They actually put up a good fight against eventual national champion Duke before running out of steam late in the second half.

The team was excited about Hummel's return this season, thinking they once again had a serious chance at a run late into March and maybe early April. Instead, the unthinkable happened, with Hummel tearing his ACL for the second straight year in only the team's second practice of the year.

JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore are the two other pieces of Purdue's star trio, and each will have to step up their game that much more if the Boilermakers want to bring home a national title.

Purdue still has a solid nucleus, but it's hard to imagine they can overcome such a big loss and get deep into the NCAA tournament. Still, they should be able to battle Ohio State and Michigan State for the Big Ten title.