May 20, 2013

About that Hopeful Ohio State Run

March 14, 2011 by 11 Comments

(Editor’s note: WFNY’s March Madness Challenge is here…PRIZES!)

In what will add at least another week to the Ohio State Buckeye news cycle, the Scarlet and Gray have been deemed the No. 1 overall seen in the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Instead of having an arbitrary batch of computers and voting heads decide who will become the champion of their respective sport, March Madness offers fans several weeks of hardwood hopefuls, looking to turn their regular season win total into hardware – a novel concept, really.  And wouldn’t you know it: Cleveland is a host city for the first weekend (I refuse to call the first actual round the second round).

The Buckeyes, the aforementioned top seed, were certainly not given a cakewalk by any stretch of the bracket-filling imagination.  Despite having Gene Smith chairing the selection committee, the Buckeyes were given a road that is rife with competitors looking to pluck the would-be Goliath from their throne atop the region.  While Smith’s reluctance to grant the Buckeye’s with a clear path to Houston likely sent the Ohio State haters into a tizzy for lack of conspiracy, Thad Matta and company will have a slate of opponents that could upset his not-so-deep squad on any given afternoon.

The Rest of the Top Four

While Pittsburgh gets to duke it out with an overseeded Florida and a BYU team that is without one of its best players, the Buckeyes will have to contend with North Carolina (winner of the ACC), Syracuse (winner of the Big East) and Kentucky (winner of the SEC tournament, beating aforementioned Florida).  Both Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams have won NCAA tournaments during their tenure, and John Calipari may as well be an NBDL coach given the talent he has worked with over the last several years.

If we want to go just outside the top four, Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers of West Virginia await.

Harrison Barnes, Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight… Ohio State could very well see more than one potential lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

And if That Wasn’t Enough…

The remainder of the East bracket is nothing to shy away from.  George Mason is just a few years removed from shocking the world by making it to the Final Four as an 11-seed. 

Xavier will provide NCAA fans with one of the better guards in the land of mid-majors, Tu Holloway (or Holliday, if you’re a disciple of Kenny Smith). 

Washington, winner of the Pac-10 will boast guard Isaiah Thomas, fresh off of his buzzer-beater against Arizona that locked up a tournament bid. 

And this may sound silly, but Long Island (the 15th seed in the East) is ranked third in the nation in rebounding and fourth in scoring.  Sure, they’ll have to get past North Carolina first, but show me another 15-seed that’s this young and this statistically-decorated (though not many even know it).

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So what say Ye, Buckeye fan?  Where does the East rank on the difficulty meter? Think Thad’s group can pull it off? 

Lord knows the football program could use a bit of a break from the limelight…

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  • mgbode

    I think Duke has a tougher region (for them). We match up well with Kentucky and only have to play 1 of Washington, Syracuse, UNC (and I actually think it will be Wash).

    Duke doesn’t matchup well with Texas and could have a red-hot Kemba Walker or an extremely efficient SD-State team to contend with.

    Sure, it’d be nice to have the powder-puff bracket that Pitt received, but champions need to beat whoever is in their path to prove they are the best team, so if the Bucks are the best team, then I have confidence they will be able to handle this test.

  • Kunal

    I’d like to add that NOVA is going to be a tough out as well, sure they played pretty poorly at the end of the season but they are still a talented team that is probably better than their seed

  • Lyon

    Agree with Kunal. A week or 2 ago Nova was a ranked team, now they’re an 11 seed? If they beat GM, it’ll be a tough one for the Bucks.

    I agree with #1 that a champ has to beat whoever they may face. However, the #1 overall seed is supposed to be worth something. The #1 overall should have the easiest bracket, and especially the worst of the #2 seeds. UNC is def not that, seeing as they were in contention for a 1 seed.

    Even though I’ll complain about the process, I love this time of the year so much and have faith the Bucks will get the job done. (but i reserve the right to complain about the difficulty if OSU should lose)

  • http://waitingfornextyear.com BAJ22

    There may not be a dominating team this year, but there are a lot of good ones. I like the fact that OSU plays great defense, as that can keep them in a game when suffering through a sub-par offensive night.

    Buckle up, it’s going to be a fun ride!! Go Bucks!!

  • mgbode

    @Lyon – that’s the misconception I think. the committee seems to care much more about rewarding a teams seed with location (in general) than bracket.

    so, UNC being a tough 2nd seed gets to play in the East (Duke as a #1 seed was sent out West because they were lower than Ohio State)

    consider it an East Coast Bias side effect :)

  • Lyon

    @mgbode – I know the committe is more concerned with location than rewarding with an easier schedule, but it doesn’t mean it makes basketball sense.

    That’d be too much to ask for I think.

  • Shamrock

    I don’t know I can’t see Ohio State doing it. Either Sullinger will get in foul trouble or they’ll hit a shooting cold streak and it’ll be over. Hope not but just not that confident after watching them play.

  • JM

    Not too sure how to feel about the brackets. I could see OSU at least going to the Final Four. If everything falls into place Duke will be waiting there though.

  • Bryan

    “Syracuse (winner of the Big East)”

    Syracuse lost in the semis of the Big East tournament. UConn won the tournament, and Pitt won the regular season title. Still not an easy team to get by though. If OSU has an off shooting night, that zone will eat them up.

  • 5KMD

    Bryan, you beat me to it.

    Scott, I was wondering what new criteria you had developed to award Syracuse the Big East title.

    ScottPom.com might have the details?

  • Ike

    I think OSU got the toughest draw of any #1 seed, which is crazy considering they’re the top overall seed. I think the bracket is so tough, that it would not surprise me to see OSU stumble.

    UNC, Kentucky and Syracuse are all capable of beating OSU in a one-game scenario. This is not me saying all of those teams are better than OSU (they’re not) or that they WILL beat OSU; I’m simply saying all have more than enough talent to do it. In other words, much crazier things have happened in a given NCAA tournament.