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Ohio State Basketball: How a win tonight can help OSU’s tourney seeding

By David Wysong

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 01: Luther Muhammad #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates after a play in the game against the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Value City Arena on March 01, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 01: Luther Muhammad #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates after a play in the game against the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Value City Arena on March 01, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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The Ohio State basketball team is playing good basketball again, now they have another big game that could help their seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

Winning five of its last six games and now ranking 19th in the country, the Ohio State basketball team is playing solid basketball again after starting 2020 rough. Additionally, in ESPN Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology, the Buckeyes are a six seed.

Can that seeding improve?

Well, of course they can get a higher seed if they perform well in the Big Ten Tournament, but they can improve their seeding by getting a win tonight.

Tonight, the Buckeyes play the 23-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini. Illinois is currently an eight seed in Lunardi’s latest Bracketology as their biggest wins this season are probably over Michigan and Penn State.

Beating a ranked conference opponent who is a projected eight seed or higher is always a resume-builder, but with the selection committee really paying close attention to quadrant wins now, this could be a good quadrant two win for the Buckeyes.

A quadrant one win at home is when you play a team with a NET  rating between 1 through 30, according to BracketResearch.com. With Illinois’ NET rating being 37, this is a quadrant two game for the Buckeyes since it is a home game. However, a win for the Illini would be a quadrant one win as a win over someone with a NET rating between 1 through 75 on the road is considered a quad one win, and Ohio State’s NET rating is 15.

Obviously, a quad one win would really help Ohio State, but so would a quad two win. The Buckeyes are 6-8 in quadrant one games, but 5-1 in quadrant two games. Moving to 6-1 would be huge because having six quad one wins and six quad two wins shows how successful the Buckeyes have been against their really tough schedule.

If the Buckeyes want to win on Wednesday, they must slow down guard Ayo Dosunmu who is averaging 16.4 points per game, and offensively it would be nice to see Duane Washington Jr. have a similar game to the one he had against Michigan where he scored 20 and sunk five three-pointers. Looking to feed Kaleb Wesson in the post is also a must for the Buckeyes.

Next. Demario McCall should get significant snaps at RB. dark

Getting a win is always better than losing, especially at this time of the year in college basketball, however Ohio State earning a nice quad two win tonight would put them in a great position heading into a quad one game against Michigan State on Sunday. Getting two wins here, in my opinion, solidifies the Buckeyes as at least a five seed in the NCAA Tournament with only the Big Ten Tournament left to be played.

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