Here comes… Ohio State?
Things are becoming much more clear as we hit Selection Sunday Eve.
Over the past few days, North Carolina, Michigan, and Nevada played themselves out of the tournament. On the other hand, Rutgers, Penn State, and Utah State did what they had to do and played themselves into the tournament.
LAST 4 IN: NC State, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Utah State
FIRST 4 OUT: Nevada, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, Oregon
NEXT 4 OUT: Clemson, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin
***NOTE: Ohio State only makes the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Ten Tournament***
Major items to be sorted out over the next 30+ hours:
- Who gets the final No. 1 seed? UCLA or Purdue?
- Who gets the No. 1 overall seed? Kansas, Alabama or Houston?
- How high does Duke climb by winning ACC Tournament?
- Can Marquette supplant Arizona (or Baylor) for last No. 2 seed?
- Based on our Final 6, who ends up in First Four? Rutgers, Pittsburgh, NC State, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Utah State
- Is Nevada and/or Oklahoma State actually “in”?
- Will Vanderbilt play their way into the dance?
- Ohio State is a bid stealer. Despite a potential win over Purdue today and OSU’s analytics (49th KenPom, 51st T-Rank, 48th NET), the Buckeyes are still 16-18 overall and were 5-15 in Big Ten play. This is NOT an at-large team, regardless of how great the team looks at the moment.
- Side note: If Ohio State gets in, we’re curious where Ohio State would be seeded? At 18-18, could the Buckeyes actually get a 12 seed? (That would include a final resume with a 6-12 Q1 record, 12-16 Q1/2 record, and a Top 10 SOS).
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