Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes’ bench key to Final Four run

The Ohio State basketball team is ranked fourth in the country and are serious Final Four contenders. How far they get is predicated on the success of their bench.

Bench depth is underrated in college basketball. Not a lot of teams have it. A lot of coaches just end up playing their starting five most of the game when tournament time comes. The Ohio State basketball team actually does have bench depth for the first time in a long time.

Ohio State is playing 11 players right now. They have six guys that come off the bench that play minutes. But if you really look at it, there are only about four guys that play real meaningful minutes off the bench right now. That will probably be the case in March too.

The players off the bench who will play good minutes in the tournament are C.J. Walker, who should stay coming off the bench, Seth Towns, Zed Key, and probably Musa Jallow. It will be between Jallow and Meechie Johnson on who gets those final bench minutes.

That bench unit will be the key to how far this Ohio State basketball team is able to go come tourney time. Seth Towns has the ability to score from anywhere on the floor. If he gets slightly more healthy, he is a massive shooting threat.

Key is a monster in the post. He gets such deep post position that it’s impossible for teams to stop him because he is so close to the hoop by the time he gets the ball. Walker is the steady senior guard who can distribute the ball where it needs to go and who can play clutch time minutes.

If anyone in the starting five gets in foul trouble, the Buckeyes have someone who can fill their spot. It’s a luxury that not many teams in the country have. If Ohio State truly is a national title contender, it will be because of the bench play.