The Ohio State basketball team is in big trouble. They had a chance to possibly seal up their NCAA Tournament bid against Indiana on Saturday afternoon. Had they won that game, they likely would have been one of the last teams into the field, regardless of what they did in the Big Ten Tournament.
Instead, they lost the game, blowing a lead late yet again. Now, they are firmly on the bubble. They need to have a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament to safely put themselves into the field. Right now, they are anything but guaranteed to make the NCAA Tournament this season.
According to Joe Lunardi of ESPN, the Buckeyes are one of the last four teams in. That would mean that they are playing in the First Four in Dayton. He seems confident that the Buckeyes are in right now. Still, there are reasons to be concerned with where they sit.
Will the Ohio State basketball team make the NCAA Tournament?
Ohio State now sits at 17-14, a truly disgusting record. They don't have any terrible losses, but they have a lot of them. Had the Buckeyes been able to just win two more games, they probably wouldn't be in this situation. Now, they have to worry about bid-stealers.
Ohio State has to make sure that they get a couple of more wins in the Big Ten Tournament to avoid a bid-stealer taking their spot. They would be very happy with all of the favorites winning their conference tournaments with ease and a semifinal spot for themselves.
If that were to happen, the Buckeyes would likely be in the NCAA Tournament. The question is whether or not the Buckeyes are good enough to get that far in the Big Ten Tourney. Nothing about their recent play inspires confidence that they are.