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Buckeyes’ first-round game vs. Iowa feels eerily similar to 2019 Big Ten Tournament
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Five years to the day of another Big Ten Tournament elimination game, Ohio State once again finds itself fighting for its NCAA Tournament life.
On March 14, 2019, the Ohio State men’s basketball team found itself in a win-or-miss the NCAA Tournament situation against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament. The ninth-seeded Buckeyes were taking on the eighth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the first game of the second round at the United Center in Chicago, knowing that a loss would put them in the NIT.
Before the game, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Ohio State as the final team in the tournament and Indiana as the first team out. That meant a win would cement an at-large berth for whoever came out on top that Thursday afternoon.
Ironically enough, that 2019 Indiana team played the same role that this year’s Ohio State team is playing — dumpster fire turned plucky underdog. The Hoosiers started that year 3-0 in the Big Ten before losing 11 of its next 12 games to fall to 4-11 in conference play. They rallied back at the end of the season to win their final four games — including two over ranked teams — to finish 8-12 in the Big Ten and (stunningly) put itself back in the NCAA Tournament conversation after looking like a corpse in mid-February.
Things didn’t turn out in Indiana’s favor in Archie Miller’s second season, as Ohio State hung on in the closing seconds to win 79-75 and lock up its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The 11-seed Buckeyes would go on to beat six-seed Iowa State in the opening round before getting popped by three-seed Houston in the second round. The Hoosiers would advance to the quarterfinals of the NIT before falling to Wichita State.
Fast forward exactly five years, and the 2023-24 Ohio State team is in an eerily similar spot.
The Buckeyes began the season 2-1 in the Big Ten, then lost nine of their next 11 games to fall to 4-10 in conference play. On the morning of Feb. 14 — 12 hours after losing to Wisconsin in Madison — head coach Chris Holtmann was fired with six games remaining in the season, including No. 2 Purdue coming up in four days.
All interim head coach Jake Diebler did was slide down a chair and guide Ohio State to a 5-1 record in its final six games, finishing with a record of 19-12, and 9-11 in the Big Ten.
The unlikely push at the end of the season, paired with the fact that two of the wins were over No. 2 Purdue and Michigan State on the road, oh so slowly nudged Ohio State back into the NCAA Tournament picture. A season that once looked so incredibly lost that Athletic Director Gene Smith chose to fire Holtmann quickly developed into one of the best stories in college basketball.
By going 5-1 over the final six games, Ohio State rose from the No. 13 seed to the No. 10 seed, earning a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. That paired the surging Buckeyes with No. 7 Iowa, which — wouldn’t you know — is also fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives after finishing 10-10 in the Big Ten.
Both the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes are listed in various Bracketology predictions as part of the “next four out” group, meaning if either team wants to make the NCAA Tournament, they need to win this opening game plus at least one more. Unlike 2019, neither of these teams are guaranteed a spot simply by winning this first-round game.
But at the same time — just like Indiana and Ohio State in 2019 — both Ohio State and Iowa are within a short reach of making the Big Dance. A win will put them on the doorstep of the tournament, while a loss will close the book on someone’s March Madness aspirations for good.
The stakes are incredibly high for both programs. Diebler has unexpectedly put incoming athletic director Ross Bjork in a difficult spot with his first big hire at Ohio State. Can Bjork afford to hire Diebler — a man who has now been a head coach for a total of eight games — with his first hire? He has one of the biggest athletic budgets in the country, and already has been vetting multiple sitting high-major coaches for the position.
And yet, Diebler is staring him right in the face and just keeps on winning.
If Diebler is able to galvanize a group that was left for dead one month ago — the youngest team in the Big Ten, mind you — and get them to the NCAA Tournament, will he force Bjork’s hand? Two wins in the Big Ten Tournament could get the Buckeyes dancing, and would also mean the 38-year old would improve his record this season to 7-1 under unique and very difficult circumstances. It was a hell of a hypothetical three weeks ago. Now it’s very real.
For Iowa, it is the ongoing and eternal search for a Sweet Sixteen under Fran McCaffery. Now in his 14th season, McCaffery’s Hawkeyes have made the NCAA Tournament eight out of 13 seasons and have won 20+ games eight times as well. Iowa perennially has one of, if not the, best offense in the Big Ten, and has produced multiple Big Ten Players of the Year as well as a National Player of the Year.
However, Iowa still has not been to the Sweet Sixteen since 1999. There hasn’t been any smoke about McCaffery moving on from Iowa, but next year would be the first season since 2017 that he won’t have one of his sons on the team once Patrick McCaffery exhausts his eligibility after this season. After losing to a lower-seeded team in the first round each of the last two seasons, a similar result this year would not be appreciated by the fans in Iowa City. Not even getting to the tournament would be worse.
Five years to the day that Ohio State gutted out a win against Indiana and forced its way into the NCAA Tournament, they will have the chance to do it again if they can toppled Iowa and its high-powered offense and then string another win or two together after that.
It will not be easy, but this team has been playing with house money for over a month. Led by a bulldog point guard in Bruce Thornton who has to be drug off the floor and a sharp-shooting senior in Jamison Battle who came to Ohio State just to play in the NCAA Tournament, this team is embracing this challenge and the chaos that comes with it.
“Tomorrow is March,” Battle said after Ohio State’s 78-69 win over Nebraska. “Let the madness begin.”
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Five years to the day of another Big Ten Tournament elimination game, Ohio State once again finds itself fighting for its NCAA Tournament life.
On March 14, 2019, the Ohio State men’s basketball team found itself in a win-or-miss the NCAA Tournament situation against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament. The ninth-seeded Buckeyes were taking on the eighth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the first game of the second round at the United Center in Chicago, knowing that a loss would put them in the NIT.
Before the game, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Ohio State as the final team in the tournament and Indiana as the first team out. That meant a win would cement an at-large berth for whoever came out on top that Thursday afternoon.
Ironically enough, that 2019 Indiana team played the same role that this year’s Ohio State team is playing — dumpster fire turned plucky underdog. The Hoosiers started that year 3-0 in the Big Ten before losing 11 of its next 12 games to fall to 4-11 in conference play. They rallied back at the end of the season to win their final four games — including two over ranked teams — to finish 8-12 in the Big Ten and (stunningly) put itself back in the NCAA Tournament conversation after looking like a corpse in mid-February.
Things didn’t turn out in Indiana’s favor in Archie Miller’s second season, as Ohio State hung on in the closing seconds to win 79-75 and lock up its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The 11-seed Buckeyes would go on to beat six-seed Iowa State in the opening round before getting popped by three-seed Houston in the second round. The Hoosiers would advance to the quarterfinals of the NIT before falling to Wichita State.
Fast forward exactly five years, and the 2023-24 Ohio State team is in an eerily similar spot.
The Buckeyes began the season 2-1 in the Big Ten, then lost nine of their next 11 games to fall to 4-10 in conference play. On the morning of Feb. 14 — 12 hours after losing to Wisconsin in Madison — head coach Chris Holtmann was fired with six games remaining in the season, including No. 2 Purdue coming up in four days.
All interim head coach Jake Diebler did was slide down a chair and guide Ohio State to a 5-1 record in its final six games, finishing with a record of 19-12, and 9-11 in the Big Ten.
The unlikely push at the end of the season, paired with the fact that two of the wins were over No. 2 Purdue and Michigan State on the road, oh so slowly nudged Ohio State back into the NCAA Tournament picture. A season that once looked so incredibly lost that Athletic Director Gene Smith chose to fire Holtmann quickly developed into one of the best stories in college basketball.
By going 5-1 over the final six games, Ohio State rose from the No. 13 seed to the No. 10 seed, earning a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. That paired the surging Buckeyes with No. 7 Iowa, which — wouldn’t you know — is also fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives after finishing 10-10 in the Big Ten.
Both the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes are listed in various Bracketology predictions as part of the “next four out” group, meaning if either team wants to make the NCAA Tournament, they need to win this opening game plus at least one more. Unlike 2019, neither of these teams are guaranteed a spot simply by winning this first-round game.
But at the same time — just like Indiana and Ohio State in 2019 — both Ohio State and Iowa are within a short reach of making the Big Dance. A win will put them on the doorstep of the tournament, while a loss will close the book on someone’s March Madness aspirations for good.
The stakes are incredibly high for both programs. Diebler has unexpectedly put incoming athletic director Ross Bjork in a difficult spot with his first big hire at Ohio State. Can Bjork afford to hire Diebler — a man who has now been a head coach for a total of eight games — with his first hire? He has one of the biggest athletic budgets in the country, and already has been vetting multiple sitting high-major coaches for the position.
And yet, Diebler is staring him right in the face and just keeps on winning.
If Diebler is able to galvanize a group that was left for dead one month ago — the youngest team in the Big Ten, mind you — and get them to the NCAA Tournament, will he force Bjork’s hand? Two wins in the Big Ten Tournament could get the Buckeyes dancing, and would also mean the 38-year old would improve his record this season to 7-1 under unique and very difficult circumstances. It was a hell of a hypothetical three weeks ago. Now it’s very real.
For Iowa, it is the ongoing and eternal search for a Sweet Sixteen under Fran McCaffery. Now in his 14th season, McCaffery’s Hawkeyes have made the NCAA Tournament eight out of 13 seasons and have won 20+ games eight times as well. Iowa perennially has one of, if not the, best offense in the Big Ten, and has produced multiple Big Ten Players of the Year as well as a National Player of the Year.
However, Iowa still has not been to the Sweet Sixteen since 1999. There hasn’t been any smoke about McCaffery moving on from Iowa, but next year would be the first season since 2017 that he won’t have one of his sons on the team once Patrick McCaffery exhausts his eligibility after this season. After losing to a lower-seeded team in the first round each of the last two seasons, a similar result this year would not be appreciated by the fans in Iowa City. Not even getting to the tournament would be worse.
Five years to the day that Ohio State gutted out a win against Indiana and forced its way into the NCAA Tournament, they will have the chance to do it again if they can toppled Iowa and its high-powered offense and then string another win or two together after that.
It will not be easy, but this team has been playing with house money for over a month. Led by a bulldog point guard in Bruce Thornton who has to be drug off the floor and a sharp-shooting senior in Jamison Battle who came to Ohio State just to play in the NCAA Tournament, this team is embracing this challenge and the chaos that comes with it.
“Tomorrow is March,” Battle said after Ohio State’s 78-69 win over Nebraska. “Let the madness begin.”
Continue reading...