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Big Week Would Allow Ohio State to Bolster NCAA Resume

Buckeyes must defend home court vs. Rutgers, Purdue to even Big Ten record

Bruce Hooley

Big Week Would Allow Ohio State to Bolster NCAA Resume
Big Week Would Allow Ohio State to Bolster NCAA Resume /

Ohio State did quite enough early in the season to spare itself some of the white-knuckle stress many teams around the country will experience on Selection Sunday.

That's not to say the Buckeyes (15-8, 5-7) don't have work left to do, but they have built in enough wiggle room that they're somewhat like a billionaire who misplaces the decimal point on the gratuity line of his dinner check.

They can afford a mistake, but they'd prefer not to make one.

Losing at home this week to Rutgers on Wednesday or Purdue on Saturday would be a mistake.

Losing both would be a disaster.

It's one thing to be within a game or two of .500 in the Big Ten.

It's another to fall four games under, which is where OSU would be if it follows a 70-57 loss Sunday at Wisconsin with a third and fourth home loss this season.

Squaring up its Big Ten mark isn't a requirement for Ohio State to get into the NCAA Tournament, but it would surely make Selection Sunday pass much easier and present a more inviting path to get past the second round for the first time in head coach Chris Holtmann's three seasons.

OSU got in last season with an 8-12 league mark and lacked the impressive non-conference resume it boasts this year, but the latest projection from ESPN's Joe Lunardi isn't very palatable.

He has Ohio State a No. 7, playing its first round games in Cleveland (so far, so good) against No. 10 Rhode Island (Hmmmmm) and then getting No. 2 West Virginia (OUCH!) if victorious.

You might recall a previous get-together with the Mountaineers on Dec. 28 in that very venue, a tussle that kicked off the mud slide OSU still hasn't dug out of from its then-lofty perch at No. 2 in the nation.

Had the then 11-1 Buckeyes won that afternoon they would have ascended to No. 1 in the country and been the ninth different team to occupy that spot so far this year.

That balance reflected nationally in a never-ending search for a dominant team is reflected most brightly in the Big Ten, which has 11 teams in the Top 40 in the NET rating used by the NCAA to help select the 68-team field.

"No offense to another league, but this is a league that's historically good," Holtmann said. "That's based upon the numbers. This is not opinion. This is based upon the nunbers. Based on the numbers, this is the best and deepest league in the country.

"Does it mean that we'll have the best NCAA Tournament? Who knows. But based on the numbers in the preseason and in conference, it's the best and deepest league in the country."

It's also a closed society where most teams are carnivores at home and vegans on the road.

The Buckeyes won't hurt themselves if they can hold serve the rest of the way at home, but with No. 9 Maryland and No. 22 Illinois yet to come to Columbus, it's advisable OSU get busy now it case it encounters further issues later.

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Bruce Hooley
BRUCE HOOLEY

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