Ohio State’s NCAA tournament résumé looked good. Really good. About as good as possible.
After opening the season with a win on the road against Cincinnati, the Buckeyes stayed hot, beating Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska, and winning their first six games of the season before a slip-up versus Syracuse. They responded well, though, beating Illinois and Minnesota to open Big Ten play with a 2-0 record and defeating UCLA in Chicago.
The group rose to No. 13 in the Associated Press top-25 poll. Chatter of Ohio State’s NCAA Tournament hopes sans Keita Bates-Diop, Jae’Sean Tate, Kam Williams and Andrew Dakich, which began with people wondering whether the team would make the dance, turned to questions of what seed the team could earn.