NCAA Basketball: Ranking the top 25 programs of all time
By Brian Rauf
Best NCAA Basketball programs of all-time: 23. Purdue basketball
Purdue has not made the Final Four since 1980 – though they came within seconds of changing that this year – and has not won an NCAA Tournament title (though they claim a national title in 1932), but there’s no doubt the Boilermakers belong among college basketball’s elite.
That 1980 Final Four appearance was the second in school history, coming 11 years after they made the title game in 1969. They have made 10 Sweet 16’s and three Elite Eights since that 1980 run.
The Boilermakers have seen their fair share of regular-season success, too. They have 24 Big Ten regular-season titles, which is the most in the conference’s history. It’s also the same number of times they have made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. However, that regular-season success hasn’t translated to conference tournament time, as the program’s lone conference tournament title came in 2009.
The program also has a history of producing stars. They have produced two No. 1 picks in the NBA Draft in Joe Barry Carroll (1980) and Glenn Robinson (1994), two National Players of the Year in John Wooden (1932) and Robinson (1994), and has produced two National Coaches of the Year in Gene Keady and Matt Painter.