Bad news for Purdue; good news for Kansas State?

Posted by John Rohde

on February 27, 2010M at 12:38 pm

A season-ending knee injury to Purdue junior forward Robbie Hummel figures to rearrange the pecking order atop the NCAA Tournament seedings, which could be good news for surging Kansas State.

The Boilermakers’ overall strength will dip without Hummel, which could be reflected in the team’s tournament seeding. KSU (23-4; 10-3) is ranked No. 6 this week, its highest ranking since the end of the 1961-62 season, and could possibly replace Purdue as a top seed, particularly if the Wildcats extend their current six-game winning streak to nine or 10.

In 2000, top-ranked Cincinnati suffered a smiliar fate when national player of the year Kenyon Martin broke his leg in the Conference USA tournament.

With Martin out, the NCAA Tournament selection committee demoted Cincinnati to a No. 2 seed. The Bearcats were outraged, then lost in the second round to a Tulsa team coached by current Kansas coach Bill Self. Michigan State went on to win the national title that year.

Purdue is ranked No. 3 in this week’s poll and was widely considered a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament at this point.

Hummel’s injury occurred during the first half of Purdue’s 59-58 win over Minnesota on Wednesday. He was injured while driving to his right and trying to plant his right knee.

Hummel ranked second on the team in points (15.7) and rebounds (6.9). Purdue struggled last season while Hummel recovered from the back injury.

“Rob does something for us offensively and defensively that balances our team,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said last season. “He’s a facilitator. He moves the basketball, he makes the extra pass, he gets the ball inside. … Some of the basic things that don’t show up in a box score is what we miss.”

The Boilermakers (24-3, 12-3 Big Ten) are on a 10-game win streak, lead the Big Ten and have their highest national ranking since 1994.

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