Is Ohio State basketball better off not playing?

The Ohio State basketball team had to cancel their third straight game as they will no longer be playing New Orleans tomorrow. Despite not having played for more than two weeks, the Buckeyes continue to move up in the polls. Is Ohio State better off not playing?

I ask this question because the Buckeyes are now 13th in the country in the polls. They have moved up in each of the last two weeks in the polls despite not having stepped on the court. That makes things very interesting when it comes to ranking this team.

It seems that since the Buckeyes haven’t lost in that timeframe that they are getting rewarded for it. The pollsters clearly value not having a loss more than getting a win. So should the Buckeyes keep canceling games until they are close to 100% healthy?

My short answer is no. Ohio State will now enter Big Ten play on Sunday, assuming that game does in fact get played. If Ohio State can reasonably play that game without risking more COVID infections or injury, then they should play. Conference wins boost resumes.

It doesn’t matter what team Ohio State would play in the Big Ten; winning a game against a Big Ten opponent helps in March. That’s how much respect the committee has for the conference at large. A loss in the Big Ten wouldn’t hurt them as much as a non-conference loss would as well.

My expectation is that this Ohio State basketball team suits up and plays on Sunday. Chris Holtmann said that the only reason why they weren’t able to play tomorrow is that they didn’t have enough guys in game-shape yet. They should be closer to that by this weekend.

I’m extremely anxious to see how this team plays after such a long absence from the game.