It’s time to add Ohio State to the conversation for a 1-seed selection Sunday. Buckeyes entered Iowa on Thursday, made 14 triples and left with an 89-85 victory over Hawkeyes.
Now they have a CV to compete with anyone in the country except the two clear teams: Gonzaga and Baylor.
Seeds 1 of most projected parentheses in recent weeks have included a rotating cast of characters alongside Zags and Bears. Villanova was a staple, but the wild cats just lost convincingly in front of St. John. Houston played in the mix, but the Cougars suffered a shocking loss to East Carolina on Wednesday night. Michigan hasn’t played in two weeks and it’s unclear what the Wolverines will look like after their COVID-19 break – or when they’ll play again. Texas and Iowa also had a few weeks on the top line, but Longhorns and Hawkeyes both lost three of the last four.
After Thursday’s win in Iowa City, Chris Holtmann’s Buckeyes certainly have a path to a series of 1 and can be said to control their own destiny.
Ohio State now has the most Quadrant 1 victories in the country with seven, including road victories against Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. There are a lot of Rutgers and a December win over UCLA in Cleveland. The large number of quality victories compares favorably with the other candidates: Villanova has two victories in the first quarter, while Iowa, Houston, Texas and Michigan have three pieces. The closest teams to the state of Ohio (apart from Baylor and Gonzaga) in the Q1 victory category are Illinois and Alabama, with five pieces.
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Buckeyes’ five wins against the Top 25 AP teams this season are the biggest in Division I, as have the four wins they had against the AP Top 25 teams.
Entering Thursday, Ohio State was ranked 12th in NET, 12th in BPI and 10th in KenPom. The Buckeyes ranked 7th in the strength of the ESPN record, which measures a team’s resume. And they will increase in each of these values after beating Iowa.
Ohio State has one of the best offenses in college basketball, with EJ Liddell and Justice Sueing matching problems constantly causing defense problems with their versatility. Duane Washington broke out of the crisis on Thursday, and Justin Ahrens proved to be a real boost for the Big Ten Buckeyes game with his outside footage. Kyle Young is a type of front glue who collapses the offensive window, and Zed Key is an outdated fast player who is effective against opponents with legitimate fast players. CJ Walker’s return from injury strengthened the guard point; he had nine assists and only one turnover against Iowa on Thursday. In other words, Buckeyes also ticks the “eye test” box.
There’s still a long way to go before the selection on Sunday – but that also means Ohio has a lot of chances to raise its profile. Among other things, the Buckeyes still have to face Michigan, while the second game against Iowa and Illinois remains in the program. But all three teams have to come to Columbus, where Ohio lost just one game this season and lost just two last season.
We don’t expect Buckeyes to lead the table to win a 1-seed, but he probably won’t; given the unpredictability of college basketball this season, it’s unlikely that anyone other than Gonzaga and Baylor (and maybe Drake) will remain undefeated the rest of the way.
Ohio State has not received enough national attention this season, but Thursday’s victory will make it difficult to ignore Buckeyes as a legitimate 1 seed threat going on.