Ohio State Basketball: Last 3 games critical for double bye
The last 3 games of the season for the Ohio State basketball team will be critical if they hope to get a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Buckeyes (18-9, 8-8 Big Ten) are sitting in the middle of the Big Ten standings, but three games against teams ahead of them gives OSU a fighting chance for a double-bye.
No. 19 Michigan (18-9, 9-7), Illinois (18-9, 10-6) and Michigan State (19-9, 11-6) will be tough tests for the Buckeyes, who need to beat all three teams to have a shot at starting their postseason run in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
The Buckeyes have had a roller coaster season, starting the season 11-1 and being ranked as high as No. 2 before losing six of seven games. They have been playing much better basketball since falling to 12-7, winning six of eight to push their record to 18-9 with four games left to play.
Thursday night’s game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-20, 2-14) should be an easy win for the Buckeyes, giving the team three games to play that could go either way.
With Michigan (March 1, 4 p.m.) and Illinois (March 5, 7 p.m.) both at home, Ohio State has a chance to move up to 11-8 in Big Ten play before the showdown against Michigan State (March 8, 4:30 p.m.) to close out the 2019-20 regular season.
Getting a double-bye won’t be important for the Buckeyes to make the NCAA Tournament — in fact, they could probably lose their last three and still make the tournament — but would mean the team could get to the Big Ten Championship Game in one less game.
With the games played on consecutive days, one less game at the beginning could be big for the Buckeyes to win the Big Ten Tournament. An extra day of rest over other teams in college basketball’s toughest and deepest conference could be vital.
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Not only would winning out make the run to a Big Ten title easier, it could also move the Buckeyes up from their No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology. Chris Holtmann’s Buckeyes are playing nearly at the level they were playing at before New Years’ Day, and tests against Michigan, Illinois and Michigan State will be important in determining just how good they are as the NCAA Tournament nears.