COLUMBUS, Ohio --The NCAA basketball committee revealed its top 16 teams as part of its first in-season look at the 2020 tournament bracket, and as expected, Ohio State wasn’t among those teams.
There have been up to 12 Big Ten teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament this year, but only Maryland and Michigan State were considered as top four seeds. The Buckeyes’ 70-57 road loss to Wisconsin on Sunday is a prime reason for why they weren’t included on the list. When the calendar year started, they were a no-brainer to be a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
Ohio State once again showed its lack of options outside of Kaleb Wesson on offense against the Badgers. The junior forward struggled as he made just 2 of 11 shots for eight points, and had six rebounds. That is the first time this season he’s failed to reach double figures in either points or rebounds. He’s always had one or the other, but his struggles to put the ball in the basket were reminiscent of a 62-59 loss to Minnesota.
Once again, Wesson struggled, and once again, the Buckeyes had nowhere to turn on offense. Wisconsin joined a list that already included Indiana, the Golden Gophers and West Virginia as teams able to hold OSU to under 40 percent from the field. The only player to reach double figures was Andre Wesson with 11 points, though E.J. Liddell, Luther Muhammad and C.J. Walker were all one made shot away from getting there. Add that to 14 turnovers — half of which were unforced — with only seven assists and you get a team that had a three-game winning streak snapped against an opponent that should have provided an easy win.
Ohio State is still a tournament team and there are still games on its schedule that can potentially help improve its seeding. No, the Buckeyes haven’t been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 since Jan. 13. That includes the recently updated rankings for this week. They’re No. 21 in the NET rankings, which give a more accurate picture of where the Buckeyes fit into the national landscape, but they are steadily dropping in those as well.
OSU has gone from a team playing like it’s one of the best in the country, to one whose non-conference successes are providing the proper crutch to lean on to get them into the field in March.
The Buckeyes are going to make the NCAA Tournament, but with the way things look right now, don’t expect them to make much noise there. The problem is a second-round exit won’t be viewed as an overachievement as it was the past two years.
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