Ohio State basketball: What’s left to play for?

It has not been a good season for the Ohio State basketball team. That’s actually a huge understatement. It’s actually been a complete disaster. We’ve talked about it over and over again and Chris Holtmann clearly has no answer on how to fix it.

So the Buckeyes sit under .500 and have no chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Heck, they might not even make the NIT. I don’t feel confident that they are going to win another game left on their schedule. Every other team they play is better than them.

What is left for this Ohio State basketball team to play for then? They have no shot at playing in the postseason, they can’t win a conference championship, and they don’t have another chance to beat their rivals. What motivation does that leave for this team?

To be honest, very little. The good news about this situation is that this is a very young team by and large. The four freshmen that get consistent playing time can play to get better for next season. Brice Sensabaugh is still playing to improve his draft stock for this year.

At this point, that’s about all this team can do. Roddy Gayle can work on his offensive game, Bruce Thornton can work on being more consistent offensively, and Felix Okpara can work on getting stronger and playing more physical defense. That’s what the rest of this season is about.

I’m not sure what this team looks like next season. I thought they were going to be pretty decent this year. I didn’t think they were going to compete for the Big Ten title or anything, but I certainly didn’t expect this. With that in mind, I have no clue what the expectations should be for next year.

The Buckeyes play tomorrow night for their next game against Northwestern at the Schott.