Ohio State Buckeyes Miss NCAA Tournament for Third Consecutive Year

The Ohio State Buckeyes are on the outside looking in at the 2025 NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row.

Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) looks down during a free throw Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in a first round game at the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes defeated the Buckeyes, 77-70. / Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Selection Sunday is a day filled with excitement and promise for 68 teams and disappointment for the rest of college basketball. For the third season in a row, the Ohio State Buckeyes land in the latter category and will be watching March Madness from their couches.

It has not been announced if they will compete in the NIT Tournament, but it is likely that they will. Regardless, their inability to make the Big Dance is a cause for concern in Columbus. 

The Buckeyes finished Jake Diebler’s first full season as the head coach with a 17-15 record and 9-11 in the Big Ten. Ohio State had a few big wins on the year, but they ultimately were not consistent enough to be selected. 

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Jake Diebler calls a play Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in a first round game at the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. / Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It started the year with a win over the then No. 19 ranked Texas Longhorns in the Las Vegas Hall of Fame Series. A mid-December victory over the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats during the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden had the Buckeyes thinking about a postseason run. 

Their two ranked wins were not enough to overcome disappointing losses to Pittsburgh, Maryland, Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, and UCLA, along with seven other losses to ranked opponents. The nail in the coffin was a first-round 77-70 loss in the Big Ten Tournament to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Diebler was hired in 2024 as a response to Ohio State’s 6-2 finish after he was named the interim coach replacing Chris Holtman. The Buckeyes being irrelevant in the basketball landscape since the early 2000’s is not a place they wanted to be and not the place they should be. 

Diebler and company need to take a long hard look at their program and make some sweeping changes in order to get Ohio State basketball back to relevance.

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