• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

2025-2026 Ohio State Men's Basketball

Jump to latest Follow Reply
plum diamonds buckeye planet
Sort by date Sort by votes
With the win against PSU, the Buckeyes finish the first half of the B1G slate at 6-4, and 14-6 overall. If they can manage another 6-4 in the second half, I think they should make the NCAA tournament. Still have some winnable games left with @Maryland, a struggling USC, Wisconsin, @ P S U and IU - if they win those games and one more of the other group (@UW, UM, @MSU, @IA, PU), they should be in good shape.
 
Upvote 0
DZ83CK said:
With the win against PSU, the Buckeyes finish the first half of the B1G slate at 6-4, and 14-6 overall. If they can manage another 6-4 in the second half, I think they should make the NCAA tournament. Still have some winnable games left with @Maryland, a struggling USC, Wisconsin, @ P S U and IU - if they win those games and one more of the other group (@UW, UM, @MSU, @IA, PU), they should be in good shape.
Click to expand...

Imagine if they had pulled out the UNC and Pitt games. They'd be 16-4!
 
Upvote 0
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Completely agree. We armchair coaches can look, and say, if you woulda done this, or that, or our guy closed on the ball more quickly, woulda changed the game. Missed shot, turnover, rebound, whatever. Hindsight's always 100%.
 
Upvote 0
With 11 games left I think if they can win 5 of them they probably get in

The pitfalls are @ Maryland and @ Ped State, they pretty much have to win those 2 games. Maryland is 159th in NET and Ped State is 129th

Win those 2 and you gotta win 3 between @ Wisconsin, Michigan, USC, Virginia, Wisconsin, @ Sparty, @ Iowa, Purdue and Indiana
 
Upvote 0
buckeyemania11 said:
With 11 games left I think if they can win 5 of them they probably get in

The pitfalls are @ Maryland and @ Ped State, they pretty much have to win those 2 games. Maryland is 159th in NET and Ped State is 129th

Win those 2 and you gotta win 3 between @ Wisconsin, Michigan, USC, Virginia, Wisconsin, @ Sparty, @ Iowa, Purdue and Indiana
Click to expand...
@Penn State is always a pitfall for OSU.
 
Upvote 0
buckeyemania11 said:
With 11 games left I think if they can win 5 of them they probably get in

The pitfalls are @ Maryland and @ Ped State, they pretty much have to win those 2 games. Maryland is 159th in NET and Ped State is 129th

Win those 2 and you gotta win 3 between @ Wisconsin, Michigan, USC, Virginia, Wisconsin, @ Sparty, @ Iowa, Purdue and Indiana
Click to expand...
Yeah, you can't necessarily say any game is going to be an easy W for this team, as they have to bring their "A" effort even to win at "lowly" Maryland and PSU. When you're capable of being had in the paint and not particularly blessed with many physical specimens who can play lock down D, you've got to play like your hair is on fire as some would say. Defense travels, and that's been the weaker area for this team, so it's only natural that getting road wins is going to be a dicey proposition.

Thad Matta, while he struggled recruiting at the end, clearly knew what types of players he needed to win at the OSU level, and on literally every team he always had one starter who was a defensive ace that would help get big stops. When he recruited bigs, he went for the long and athletic big who provided rim protection & was adept at securing rebounds (things we don't really have right now). Additionally, his "defend without fouling" philosophy generally led to opponents getting fewer points the easy way. I don't think it's a coincidence that a good part of the struggles that OSU has had in recent years have been on defense, and the team has just not had the type of talent and emphasis that there was in the vintage Matta years.
 
Upvote 0
On the bright side, it sounds like Tilly won't be out for long. Cupps, while not as important as Tilly, also is not expected out for long. So hopefully the Buckeyes will be close to full strength at Wisconsin.

On the flip side, the fact that they're not even mentioning Brandon Noel in interviews now is probably a bad sign - at this point, it kind of feels like he might not play at all again this season.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top