All senior days are special.

The 2018 version of senior day almost guarantees an emotional response from what will be a capacity Mackey Arena crowd. After all, saying goodbye to the likes of P.J. Thompson, Dakota Mathias, Vincent Edwards and Isaac Haas won't be easy as that quartet did so much to turn around Purdue's basketball fortunes.

Yet, some of the best senior days haven't always been the best games. Sometimes they have gone hand-in-hand, but often times they haven't. It's the emotion tied in with the game that makes our "baker's dozen" list of senior days to remember since Mackey Arena opened back in 1967.

The 2000 senior class of Brian Cardinal, Jaraan Cornell, Mike Robinson,, Greg McQuay and Chad Kerkhof had been through a very successful run over four years with four straight trips (two Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight) to the NCAA. The fans response on senior day to Cardinal, prior to an 88-71 win over Penn State, gave strong indication that the Tolono, Ill., would remain one of the school's all-time favorite players.

The game was nip and tuck, but the Boilermakers pulled out a 63-58 win over Illinois. On senior day for Rapheal Davis and fifth-year transfer Jon Octeus was a celebration of a great senior seasons for those two, but most of all marked a return to national relevance for the Boilermakers.

This one makes the list, even though the last-second winning shot was made by a junior Jimmy Oliver in the Boilermakers' heart-stopping 79-77 win over No.8 Michigan. It was a fond farewell to three of Purdue's more popular seniors in Stephen Scheffler, Tony Jones and Ryan Berning and it's the only game on our list that pitted two-top 10 teams.

Senior days were far different nearly 50 years ago, with no pre- or post-game ceremonies to be found. On this day, Purdue fans said goodbye to a pair of their all-time favorite players in Billy Keller and Herman Gilliam. Equally to the fans' delight, they watched the Boilermakers trounce Indiana 120-76, still a record for points scored in a men's game in the facility. The game also served as a launching pad of sorts to a second-place finish in the 1969 NCAA Tournament. Keller scored a career-high 31 points to add icing on the cake.

Woody Austin was an All-Big Ten guard who saved one of his best games for his last. In one of the biggest senior day upsets in the history of Mackey Arena, Austin gave No. 4-ranked Indiana fits in the second half, along with fellow senior Craig Riley, delivering Purdue to a stunning 61-59 win. It was one of the most deafening crowds in Mackey Arena history and the Hoosiers, and Coach Bob Knight, left the building with ringing in their ears and a painful loss.

Purdue was still reeling from a devastating injury to Robbie Hummel a week earlier, but it gathered itself in time to not only trounce Indiana by 19 points on senior day, but also set itself up for a share of the Big Ten title three days later at Penn State. Saying goodbye to Chris Kramer, Keaton Grant and Mark Wohlford wasn't easy as the trio represented what was good about Purdue basketball at the time, and that was hard work and effort. Kramer, especially, solidified himself as an all-time crowd-pleaser, making it an emotion farewell.

After his second knee injury in less than six months, Robbie Hummel was forced to spend the 2010-11 senior day game watching his beloved classmates E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson depart with a hard-fought win over Illinois. The No. 6-ranked Boilermakers were riding high, and it was a raucous farewell for Moore and Johnson, but one couldn't help think something was missing when Hummel spent the ceremony in street clothes ready and waiting for another season.

It was another heartbreaking loss in a season of tough losses. Minnesota came from behind in the closing minutes to post a 59-57 victory, but it didn't really matter. It was time to say an emotional goodbye to the Boilermakers' all-time winningest coach Gene Keady. Yes, the senior day ceremony for players Brandon McKnight and Andrew Ford was before the game, but few will ever forget the ceremony after the game when none of the capacity crowd left the building before paying tribute to Keady.

In a season that started with knee injuries for seniors Cuonzo Martin and Matt Waddell, the Boilermaker duo gutted out not only the season, but gathered themselves and their teammates for a second-straight Big Ten crown. It wasn't easy on senior day, as Michigan, with a couple of remnants of the Fab Five still hanging around, took Purdue to the wire before relenting.

The game was a bit anti-climatic as No. 5 Purdue easily handled Northwestern 79-56. But, it was remarkable as the largest senior class in Mackey annals, a six-member group including Brandon Brantley, Herb Dove, Todd Foster, Roy Hairston, Justin Jennings and Porter Roberts did something no one had done in the Big Ten in 34 years: Be part of three-straight Big Ten conference titles. The celebration included indoor pyrotechnics for the first time in Mackey Arena history, only outdone by fireworks the Boilermakers provided during its greatest three-year run since the Great Depression.

Glenn Robinson never had a senior day at Purdue. He was a junior leading Purdue to its first Big Ten title in six years, scoring 49 points in the process as the No. 6 Boilermakers' disposed of pesky Illinois by 10. Robinson may not have been part of the pregame ceremony with Linc Darner, Ian Stanback, Cornelius McNary and Kenny Williams, but there was little doubt that Robinson was playing his last game at Purdue prior to becoming the No. 1 overall pick of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. It was the greatest senior day effort in the history of Mackey Arena, by arguably the greatest player to ever play in the facility.

Purdue had already clinched its first back-to-back titles since the 1930s and to some extent this game was anti-climatic. After the pregame ceremonies, the Boilermakers started slowly against the lowly Gophers, but responded with a rousing 93-66 win. The day was reserved as a love-fest for three of the most beloved players in school history in Troy Lewis, Everette Stephens and Todd Mitchell, and things were riding high as the No. 2 Boilermakers were primed to make a deep run in the '88 NCAA. While that didn't go quite as planned, their last game in Mackey and the first team to hoist an actual Big Ten trophy on senior day made it a remarkable moment.

It doesn't get better than this. With the Boilermakers blowing out the defending national champs in the closing moments of final regular season game, senior All-America center Joe Barry Carroll knew his plan could be executed.

Called to the bench for the last time in the contest by Coach Lee Rose, Carroll went to the end of the bench to retrieve a box of roses. He grabbed them and ran across the court to great his mother. Both Purdue coach Lee Rose and the Spartans Jud Heathcote knew of the plan and agreed to let it unfold.

When Carroll reached his mother, he opened the box and gave the roses while waving the crowd to cheer. It was Carroll, who was one of the most fun-loving guys on the team, but rarely spoke publicly (especially to the media), coming out to the fans. The roar grew louder and the tears began to flow from many of the Mackey Arena faithful.

The irony of it all is that Carroll, who occasionally drew criticism for appearing to play with little emotion, had produced the most emotional moment in Mackey Arena history.

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