The Ohio State basketball program is officially in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years. Bruce Thornton will get a chance to experience high-leverage games in the month of March, something he has not really gotten to experience. Now, he gets to the Big Dance.
Taking down Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was exactly what they needed to do in order to make sure that they made the bracket. Of course, they had a chance to increase their seed if they had upset TTUN, but they weren't able to do that.
With that loss, the Buckeyes were projected to be an eight or nine-seed in March Madness. Unfortunately, that's exactly what they got. They have an eight-seed, and the Ohio State Buckeyes have a horribly tough draw in their way to get some wins.
The Ohio State basketball program will likely exit the NCAA Tournament early
The Buckeyes will take on ninth-seeded TCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be played in Buffalo. That is a game that they should be able to win, as they match up pretty well against the Horned Frogs. Unfortunately, they are in Duke's region.
Duke is the number-one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They have only two losses all season long and just won the ACC Tournament Championship. That means if the Buckeyes beat TCU, that's who they will match up against. In other words, their stay in the Big Dance will be pretty short.
It would take a monumental upset for Ohio State to beat the Blue Devils in the second round. Of course, they still have to beat the Horned Frogs first. Ohio State did play the best basketball of the year at the end of the season, so they do have some momentum heading into the tournament.
Still, this is as bad a draw as Ohio State could have hoped for. Ohio State fans should be disappointed.