The regular season is beginning to wind down with just four games remaining for the Ohio State women’s basketball team, and brackets are already beginning to take shape for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament set to begin Wednesday, March 16.
This year’s tournament features the first-ever 68-team bracket on the women’s side with the inclusion of the First Four games, which the men have played since 2011.
The Buckeyes are looking to return to their first NCAA tournament since 2018, in which they were a No. 3 seed and fell to No. 11 Central Michigan in the second round.
This would be the 25th all-time tournament appearance for Ohio State and the fifth under head coach Kevin McGuff. McGuff is the only player or member of the coaching staff remaining from the 2018-19 team that made the school’s last tournament run.
Ohio State was in position to make the tournament in 2020 before its cancellation, and in 2021, missed the tournament due to a self-imposed postseason ban, though the Buckeyes likely would have been in the field.
Sitting with a 19-4 record this season, Ohio State is currently projected as a middle seed. ESPN has the Buckeyes as a No. 6 seed with a first-round matchup against No. 11 Colorado in the Bridgeport regional, where NC State, Iowa State, UConn and Maryland round out the top four in that region.
College Sports Madness, meanwhile, is somewhat lower on the Buckeyes, projecting them as a No. 7 seed set to take on No. 10 Missouri State in the Albany regional, with South Carolina, Michigan, Baylor and Indiana as the top four seeds. RealTimeRPI has Ohio State as a No. 9 seed taking on No. 8 Georgia Tech.
The Buckeyes are among six Big Ten teams – along with Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and Nebraska – expected to be in the final field, which will be announced on Sunday, March 13 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
