WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — They’ve won the Big Ten Tournament.

They’ve been to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

They’ve been ranked in the top 10.

Now, the Purdue Boilermakers are taking dead aim at the Final Four.

With all five starters returning from last year’s 27-win team, Purdue sees a legitimate chance to reach college basketball’s ultimate stage at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“This team is really hungry right now,” said junior forward JaJuan Johnson, a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore. "We want to make that next step.

“The Final Four is in Indianapolis, and we talk about that all the time. We have a lot of guys from Indiana. For us to be able to do that, we have to work hard as a team and stay together.”

With 14 of their 17 players from Indiana, the Boilermakers would have a chance to duplicate Michigan State’s feat of playing in a home-state Final Four.

Last year the Spartans played in the Final Four in Detroit, reaching the national championship game before falling to North Carolina.

Reaching the Final Four would stamp this as one of the best seasons in school history.

Purdue, which began playing basketball in 1896, has been to the Final Four only twice, in 1969 behind Rick Mount and Billy Keller, and in 1980 behind Joe Barry Carroll.

The 1980 Final Four also was in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena.

If Purdue makes it this year, it would be an amazing rise. Just four years ago, the Boilermakers were 10 games under .500.

They were a surprise 22-12 team in 2006-07, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament behind seniors David Teague and Carl Landry.

The big change came when they landed Johnson, Rob Hummel and E’Twaun Moore, all nationally ranked high school players.

Joining Chris Kramer’s recruiting class from the year before, the 2007 class changed the talent level at Purdue.

“That’s the foundation of a Final Four team,” recruiting analyst Dave Telep said at the time.

Purdue won 25 games with Moore and Hummel starting as freshmen. The Boilermakers pushed that to 27 wins last year.

The Boilermakers, ranked 11th in last year’s preseason poll, are No. 7 this year, their highest preseason ranking since being No. 2 going into 1987-88.

They were ranked every week last season, reaching as high as No. 9.

“They’re definitely one of my legitimate teams to go to the Final Four,” veteran television analyst Dick Vitale said. "They’re a veteran club, a team that has a great winner’s mentality and a healthy Rob Hummel.

“No doubt the motivation of getting to Indy will play a vital role like it did with Michigan State in Detroit last year. They’ve got defense. They’ve got scoring. And they’ve got the development of Johnson inside.”

From the players’ parking lot next to Mackey Arena, the drive to the parking lot where the team buses will enter Lucas Oil Stadium for the Final Four is 67.3 miles.

Only twice since 1980 has Purdue been on the doorstep of the Final Four. In 1994, behind Glenn Robinson and Cuonzo Martin, the Boilermakers reached the Elite Eight but fell to Duke 69-60.

The Brian Cardinal-led squad made a surprise run to the 2000 Elite Eight before falling to Wisconsin 64-60.

After that, Purdue didn’t win 20 games until the 2006-07 team’s 22-victory season.

Now, they’re looking at a potential Final Four run.

“I think it’d take Purdue to another level,” Kramer said. "Our first two years, we couldn’t win the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Last year we took another step.

“For us to take this next step, it’d really put Purdue on that national circuit. If we could get to Indy and play in the Final Four, it would be huge for our program and huge for coach Painter.”

Purdue returns all five starters from last year in guards Lewis Jackson, Moore and Kramer and forwards Johnson and Hummel.

The preseason Big Ten Player of the Year as a sophomore, Hummel is healthy heading into his junior season after back injuries slowed him last year.

Purdue has another player, senior guard Keaton Grant, who has been a starter.

“We’re confident and humble at the same time,” Moore said. "We’ve got the confidence to come out and play hard against anybody. We’ve got a lot of experience playing in a lot of games, and everybody’s a great teammate. We just have to put it all together.

“Chemistry plays a big key. The Florida teams, they all knew how to play with each other and they fed off each other.”

The Gators won consecutive national titles in 2006 and 2007 with a group whose core had been together for several years.

“Coach Painter’s done a good job of bringing in people he can work with, whether it’s the coaching staff, the players, the support staff, everything,” Hummel said. "They were at a point a few years ago when things weren’t going so hot.

“Now it’s changed to the point excellence is an expectation.”

Painter said having the Final Four as a realistic goal is good and dangerous. He doesn’t want his players thinking that just because they reached the Sweet Sixteen last year, they’re automatically getting that far again.

“You have to keep things in order,” Painter said. "You don’t just jump to the NCAA Tournament and the Sweet Sixteen and be 27-10 and then win two games and go to the Final Four.

“I wish it worked that way, but it doesn’t. You have to fight just to get into the NCAA Tournament. You can’t take anything for granted in this sport.”

If they don’t, if they have a special season, they could make the short drive from Mackey Arena to Lucas Oil Stadium and play in the Final Four in their home state.