With the NCAA Selection Committee sequestered in a hotel room just a few blocks away, Purdue pulled out its third consecutive win without Robbie Hummel in a Big Ten quarterfinal victory over Northwestern on Friday.
The committee will pore over number after number in an effort to figure out which fringe teams belong in the field and which won’t make the cut.
Its most difficult and important decision may have to do with the Boilermakers.
Where do you seed Matt Painter’s club?
Based purely on its resume, Purdue would have a legitimate case to be a No. 1 seed.
The Boilermakers have lost just four games. They have beaten Tennessee on a neutral court, Wisconsin on their home floor and won road games against Ohio State and Michigan State.
They have won 13 of their past 14 games after a three-game losing streak in mid-January.
But they no longer have Robbie Hummel.
Purdue’s most indispensible player is done for the season after suffering a torn ACL on Feb. 24 in a win at Minnesota.
Exactly a decade ago, Cincinnati star Kenyon Martin broke his leg in the conference tournament, and the NCAA Selection Committee opted to drop Cincinnati from a No. 1 to a No. 2 seed.
Though Hummel isn’t quite as talented as Martin, his impact on the Boilermakers is just as significant — if not more so.
Purdue is not the same team. Not even close.
It’s true the Boilermakers have won three of their four games without their versatile forward, but they have come against the likes of Indiana, Penn State and Northwestern.
Hardly murderers’ row.
"You can’t punish us for winning games without Robbie Hummel,” Painter said. "We didn’t set the schedule. The only team we’ve lost to is Michigan State.”
The dilemma is whether to penalize the team because it’s clearly not the same without Hummel or reward the Boilermakers for what they’ve done over the course of the season.
I say reward them.
"I don’t think it would be fair to penalize us and drop us lower than a No. 2 seed,” Purdue guard E’Twaun Moore said. "We’ve only lost four games all season.
"I think it should go by your resume and the things you’ve done. If that’s the case, we deserve to be a No. 1 seed.”
The decision won’t just affect a Purdue team that may struggle to get to the Sweet 16 without Hummel.
It could change the complexion of the entire field.
Just ask Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.
Izzo was the primary beneficiary from the decision in 2000 to drop Cincinnati to a No. 2 seed.
Izzo’s Spartans slid into the No. 1 spot, were able to play in nearby Detroit in the regionals and wound up winning the national title.
"They earned it over the whole year,” Izzo said of the Boilermakers. "They deserve it.”
Purdue will play Minnesota on Saturday and a win still likely won’t earn it the respect of beating a big-time team without Hummel. That could come if they beat the Gophers and face Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game.
But what if Purdue loses to Ohio State in the title contest?
How far do the Boilermakers drop?
"I don’t know,” Purdue senior Keaton Grant said. "But if they drop us to a four seed, we’ll be one dangerous four seed.”
The bottom line is if Purdue does hang on for a No. 2 seed, you can bet the No. 1 in the same region will be licking its chops to face a team that just isn’t the same as it was a few weeks ago before the injury.
Same goes if the Boilermakers get a No. 3. The high seeds in the region will be smiling at the thought of seeing a Purdue team that has just two offensive weapons – Moore and JaJuan Johnson.
The Boilermakers won’t be a complete walkover because of their defensive tenacity, but they wouldn’t be worthy of a top four seed if you were basing it on the best teams in the country now.
"It hard because they don’t have enough data,” Painter said. "They set a precedent back with Kenyon Martin, and it would be unfair to apply that to us. You can’t punish us, because we earned it.”
But it may happen, anyway.
