For some sports fans, it’s the most wonderful time of the year (move aside Christmas). This week, March Madness queues up and there are sure to be plenty of drama-induced, heart-thumping moments that we’ll all look back upon and remember why we like the exhilarating event that the NCAA Tournament is every year.
Now that the brackets have been released, the next order of business for most is filling them out and entering the finished product into office and online pools to try and either have bragging rights or (of course) win some cold, hard cash.
But many have a hard time putting their rooting interests aside and being a so-called interested, non-biased observer. That perhaps holds a lot of truth when it comes to Ohio State. The Buckeyes flipped and flopped their way through the end of the regular season, losing four of their last five, but still managed to receive a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
As that goes, USA TODAY’s Scott Gleeson believes that OSU is one of the most overrated teams in the country and is imploring you to look the other way when filling out your brackets.
NEXT … Why Gleeson believes Ohio State is overrated
Don’t count on Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament
What Gleeson Says
“The Buckeyes (19-11) lost three of their last four to close out the regular season, including home games against teams they shouldn’t have lost to – bottom-feeder Nebraska and bubble-team Michigan. Then they exited early in the Big Ten tourney with an upset loss to Penn State. Even though E.J. Liddell is having an All-America-caliber season, Ohio State sometimes becomes too reliant on its star. In the Nebraska game, Liddell had 27 points and the Buckeyes still lost. They struggle to take care of the ball – ranking 236th nationally in turnover margin.”
NEXT … What we say
What We Say
It’s hard to argue with what we’ve seen on the court as of late and disagree with what Gleeson says about the Buckeyes. There have been far too many inconsistencies, injuries, and inability to finish games to think that this team is going to make any kind of run in the NCAA Tournament. It’s great that Ohio State is in the NCAA Tournament again, but all of Buckeye Nation seemingly has resigned to the fact that it’s going to be a short stay.
However, if the team can get Zed Key and Kyle Young back, in combination with some rest, this team can play with anyone. E.J. Liddell and Malaki Branham have to be at the top of their games, and there has to be a better effort on both sides of the court, but we’ve seen this team beat Duke and take care of business on the road vs. Illinois. That’s what the team is capable of. On the other hand, the last two weeks also show that the valley can be pretty low. We’ll see how it all plays out beginning on Friday.
Consistency and effort have to travel to Pittsburgh with Ohio State.
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