Every journey begins with a first step. And No. 3 Purdue will take that initial stride in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday when it plays No. 14 Old Dominion at 9:50 p.m. ET, in Hartford, Conn.
The Boilermakers arrived in a bit of a lull, losing two of their last three games—both to Minnesota—by a combined six points. Still, Purdue (23-9 overall; 16-4 Big Ten) also arrived as co-Big Ten champs, the program’s second conference championship in three seasons. And there is no shortage of star power with All-American Carsen Edwards leading the way for a program that is 21-7 all-time in the first round.
Could this be the year the Boilermakers earn their first trip to the Final Four since 1980, when Lee Rose coached Joe Barry Carroll to college basketball’s promised land? The program hasn’t come close to sniffing the Final Four since the 2000 NCAA tourney. More on that later.
This will be Purdue’s fifth NCAA trip in a row, the 10th longest streak in the nation. And the program is a top-five seed for the fourth season in a row, one of just eight schools in the nation that can say that. The Boilermakers are 39-30 all-time in the NCAA tourney with nine Sweet 16s, two Final Fours and zero national championships.
The Big Dance has been a mixed bag for Matt Painter since he has taken over the program in 2005-06. He will be making his 11th NCAA trip as Boilermakers coach, boasting a 12-10 record.
First-round success has been common for Purdue and Painter. In fact, he won his first six first-round NCAA games as Boilermakers coach before falling in the opening round in 2015 (Cincinnati) and in 2016 (UALR). At one time, the program won 14 first-round games in a row from 1994-2012, dating from a loss to Rhode Island in 1993 to the loss to Cincinnati in 2015.
Painter also has had a knack for reaching the Sweet 16, making it four times: 2009, 2019, 2017 and 2018. But he keeps bumping his head on the Sweet 16 ceiling.
The closest he has come to breaking through to the Elite Eight was in 2009 in a 12-point loss to UConn (72-60). Purdue lost by 13 points to Duke in 2010 (70-57) and to Texas Tech last year (78-65). Painter’s 2017 team fell to Kansas (98-66) in the Sweet 16.
Painter has been snake-bitten by injuries to key players., causing fans to opine: What if? Twice, star Robbie Hummel endured knee injuries that scrubbed his seasons in 20010 and 2011. Isaac Haas had an elbow injury that knocked him out of last year's Big Dance. How will Edwards' "back problem" impact this year's NCAA tourney?
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NCAA struggles predate Painter, as Gene Keady endured his ups and downs. He compiled a 19-17 NCAA record in 17 trips to the Big Dance with five Sweet 16s and two Elite Eights (1994 and 2000).
Keady took three teams into NCAA tourney as a No. 1 seed—1988, 1994 and 1996—and only one made it past the Sweet 16: The 1994 Elite Eight squad led by national player of the year Glenn Robinson, which lost, 69-60, to No. 2 Duke. Robinson played that game with a back injury suffered the game before vs. Kansas. What if he had been healthy?
Keady also led Purdue to an improbable Elite Eight in 2000, where as a No. 6 seed the Boilermakers fell, 64-60, to No. 8 Wisconsin in one of the most painful defeats in school annals.
But perhaps there was no bigger heartbreak than in 1988. Purdue was a favorite to reach the Final Four as a No. 1 seed led by seniors Troy Lewis, Todd Mitchell and Everette Stephens. Alas, the Boilermakers lost, 73-70, in the Sweet 16 to No. 4 Kansas State.
Purdue avoided making dubious history in 1996, when it almost became the first ever No. 1 seed to fall to a No. 16, scrapping by Western Carolina, 73-71. More misery: Keady’s 1984 co-Big Ten title team led by Jim Rowinski lost 66-48 to Memphis State in its first game. The 1987 team that was a No. 3 seed and won a share of the Big Ten title fell in the second-round of the Big Dance to No. 6 Florida. And the one-point loss as a No. 2 seed to No. 10 Texas in 1990 was painful for fans--and it took place in Indianapolis, too.
Lastly, the 1998 team rolled into March as a No. 2 seed behind Brad Miller, Brian Cardinal and Chad Austin. It easily won its first two games vs. Delaware and Detroit and had what looked to be a easy road to the Final Four after myriad upsets the first weekend of the tourney. All Purdue had to do was beat No. 3 Stanford in the Sweet 16 and then play the winner of No. 8 Rhode Island-No. 13 Valpo to reach the Final Four … but Purdue lost to the Cardinal, 67-59.
But, this is a new year, a new team and a new tourney. History doesn’t matter, as the 2018-19 team looks to author its own story.
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