Ohio State was rewarded for its strong final stretch in the regular season with an 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, its first berth in the event since the 2021-22 season.
The Buckeyes will play 9 seed TCU in the first round on March 19 in Greenville, S.C.
Ohio State’s tournament fate was not sealed as the calendar turned to March, as it was squarely on the bubble yet again, and on the wrong side of it for much of February. But as soon as March started, the madness began.
The Buckeyes beat No. 8 Purdue — which won the Big Ten tournament on Sunday — on March 1 at the Schottenstein Center in likely the most complete game they put together all year to that point. They followed that up with a large victory over Penn State in State College, Pa., their first time winning two straight games in two months. Then they beat Indiana on Senior Day and took down Iowa in their first game in the Big Ten tournament.
That win streak ended at the hands of Michigan in the quarterfinal, but Ohio State proved that its turnaround was real by putting up a good fight against the Wolverines and losing by just four points.
Now OSU hopes to bring that momentum into the NCAA Tournament.
Because of that late run, the Buckeyes were able to get themselves up from a predicted 11 seed to an 8 seed, which might have made it more likely they win in the first round, but that means if they do make it out of the first round, their second opponent will be a tough one.
They would almost certainly have to play No. 1 seed Duke in the second round with a victory.
