Ohio State Basketball: Buckeyes trending similar to 2007 team
Chris Holtmann led the Ohio State Basketball team to a dominating performance in Chapel Hill defeating the No. 7 Tar Heels 74-49. The Buckeyes are trending similar to the 2007 team that played for the national title.
Duane Washington Jr led Ohio State with 18 points in the win. The Buckeyes’ depth coming off the bench with two freshman E.J. Liddell and D.J. Carton make this team hard to contain. Kaleb Wesson was 1 rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 10 points with 9 rebounds.
Despite the turnovers in the first half, the Buckeyes bounced back in the second half shooting 54%. The 6th ranked Buckeyes will most likely jump up No. 2 behind Louisville in the next AP Top 25 rankings.
This huge win on the road comes just three weeks after a 25 point blowout against No.10 Villanova. According to ESPN Stats & Info, there have only been 3 other teams who have beaten 2 AP top-10 teams by 25 points.
All three teams including 2015-2016 Villanova, 2000-2001 Duke and 1967-1968 UCLA all went on to win the National Championship.
This year the Final Four will be held in Atlanta. Why is this so significant for this Buckeye team?
The last Final Four appearance for the Buckeyes was in Atlanta in 2007. That Thad Matta team led by Ohio State all-time greats Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr., came up short in the National Championship Game against Florida 84-75.
Coincidently, the Buckeyes finished the season 35-4 including an early season loss against No. 7 ranked North Carolina 98-89.
The nation is raving about how talented the No. 1 Ohio State football team is due to the tremendous success the Buckeyes have had this season. But, last night, it was quite clear the basketball team has the young talent, veteran leaders and coaching staff needed to get back to Atlanta.
Ohio State became the 2nd school to win an AP Top-10 matchup in both basketball and football over a four-day span, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Next. Buckeyes will make CFB history in Indy. dark
Could this year be like the one the Florida Gators had in 2007 when they captured both the BCS National Championship and the Final Four title against the Buckeyes? Both the Ohio State football and basketball teams are certainly trending in that direction.