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This or That: Would you rather make the Final Four or win a Big Ten Championship?
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
GABY VELASQUEZ/ EL PASO TIMES / USA TODAY NETWORK
You can hang a banner for both, and they both come with different advantages.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the Buckeyes we expect to excel this season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all our “This or That” articles here.
When it comes to Ohio State men’s basketball and the current state of the program, there is one sentiment that everyone has echoed concurrently: It is time to put up some more banners in the Schottenstein Center.
And it is hard to argue with that. It has been over a decade since the Buckeyes put up a banner. They last made the Final Four in 2012 and won a regular season conference championship in 2012 and a B1G Tournament championship in 2013.
It is now 2024, and fans are itching for the Buckeyes to get back to their previous success. They had some success under Chris Holtmann, twice finishing second in the regular season conference race and making the conference championship game in the Big Ten Tournament in 2021, losing in overtime.
But they could never get over the hump, and now it is the Jake Diebler era in Columbus, and he is not shy about setting expectations for the program.
In the program’s history, the Buckeyes have made 11 Final Fours (1939, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1999, 2007, 2012), 15 Sweet 16’s since 1960 and 15 Elite Eight’s. The Buckeyes have also made four national championship appearances and won the national championship in 1960. They have won five B1G Tournaments, the first one in 2002 and the last one in 2013, and 22 regular-season conference championships.
To bring it back to this week’s theme of ‘This or That’, which one would be better to achieve first, assuming that they achieve one soon: a Big Ten title or a Final Four?
The obvious answer is both, of course, but that is not how the game works. We have to pick one, so let’s weigh the benefits of both and the ways it would be different.
If they win a conference championship, you are officially the king of the conference. There is also a caveat to this one — If you win both the regular season conference championship and the conference tournament, that is dominating the conference on another level. I would rather the team win the regular season championship than the tournament to show more consistency and longevity, but it would be hard to argue with either.
For the Final Four that is where the national perspective takes place. With the way college basketball is set up, a team like Ohio State can finish sixth or seventh place in the conference and have an average season but still make a run to the Final Four. See, NC State this year.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I would take the conference championship. I think the Final Four run would be fun and make for a great three weeks, but the conference championship shows more consistency and a better overall trajectory of the program. Plus, if you win a conference like the Big Ten, you are almost assuredly a one-seed or a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and that helps immensely with recruiting.
But the real answer is... please get back to the NCAA Tournament. I miss it.
Continue reading...
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
GABY VELASQUEZ/ EL PASO TIMES / USA TODAY NETWORK
You can hang a banner for both, and they both come with different advantages.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the Buckeyes we expect to excel this season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all our “This or That” articles here.
When it comes to Ohio State men’s basketball and the current state of the program, there is one sentiment that everyone has echoed concurrently: It is time to put up some more banners in the Schottenstein Center.
And it is hard to argue with that. It has been over a decade since the Buckeyes put up a banner. They last made the Final Four in 2012 and won a regular season conference championship in 2012 and a B1G Tournament championship in 2013.
It is now 2024, and fans are itching for the Buckeyes to get back to their previous success. They had some success under Chris Holtmann, twice finishing second in the regular season conference race and making the conference championship game in the Big Ten Tournament in 2021, losing in overtime.
But they could never get over the hump, and now it is the Jake Diebler era in Columbus, and he is not shy about setting expectations for the program.
In the program’s history, the Buckeyes have made 11 Final Fours (1939, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1999, 2007, 2012), 15 Sweet 16’s since 1960 and 15 Elite Eight’s. The Buckeyes have also made four national championship appearances and won the national championship in 1960. They have won five B1G Tournaments, the first one in 2002 and the last one in 2013, and 22 regular-season conference championships.
To bring it back to this week’s theme of ‘This or That’, which one would be better to achieve first, assuming that they achieve one soon: a Big Ten title or a Final Four?
The obvious answer is both, of course, but that is not how the game works. We have to pick one, so let’s weigh the benefits of both and the ways it would be different.
If they win a conference championship, you are officially the king of the conference. There is also a caveat to this one — If you win both the regular season conference championship and the conference tournament, that is dominating the conference on another level. I would rather the team win the regular season championship than the tournament to show more consistency and longevity, but it would be hard to argue with either.
For the Final Four that is where the national perspective takes place. With the way college basketball is set up, a team like Ohio State can finish sixth or seventh place in the conference and have an average season but still make a run to the Final Four. See, NC State this year.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I would take the conference championship. I think the Final Four run would be fun and make for a great three weeks, but the conference championship shows more consistency and a better overall trajectory of the program. Plus, if you win a conference like the Big Ten, you are almost assuredly a one-seed or a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and that helps immensely with recruiting.
But the real answer is... please get back to the NCAA Tournament. I miss it.
Continue reading...