Filed under: Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big Ten, Injuries
Robbie Hummel tearing his ACL on the first day of practice was about the biggest possible news that could have come out of college basketball in mid-October. We're talking about arguably the best player on a team that has been waiting for four years to see this trio of star seniors lead the Boilermakers to a national championship. Obviously, the waiting game rarely works, due to injuries, transfers and myriad other factors, but Purdue was there. This was it. Then, it was all taken away.
Only it really wasn't -- at least not for the team itself.
If you immediately counted Purdue out of national relevance, you aren't paying attention. The Boilers still have two of the nation's best players in JaJuan Johnson (probably the best big man) and E'Twaun Moore. There are several other reasons to believe Purdue is still easily a Sweet 16-caliber team -- for the third straight season -- and many were outlined by Hammer and Rails. Being a Purdue blog, it's definitely a best-case scenario picture being painted in that post, but none of it is unrealistic or unreasonable. When I went to rework my preseason rankings, I bumped the Boilers from No. 2 to No. 10.
As for within the Big Ten, Purdue still has a very legitimate shot to take the league championship. Let's take a look.
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