Ohio State Basketball: Early exit may impact their NCAA seeding

The way the Ohio State Basketball team played during their conference tournament could impact their seeding for the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

The Ohio State Basketball team has had a season very few expected. For that, first-year head coach Chris Holtmann deserves every bit of praise and success that comes his way.

Prior to the start of the Big Ten Tournament, Holtmann led the Ohio State Basketball team to a 15-3 conference record, which was tied for second with Purdue.

With expectations of a deep conference tourney run and possibly winning the whole thing, an early exit was not something on the horizon right? Yes, but unfortunately that was exactly what happened.

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Ohio State fell short in the Big Ten quarterfinals 69-68 to Penn State. This is far from the end for the Buckeyes but what hurts more is the fact that they lost to PSU three times this season!

So, looking ahead, how could Ohio State’s end result in the Big Ten tournament and their schedule impact their seeding? Being tied for second in the Big Ten is an impressive accomplishment but the Buckeyes are now 17th in the AP poll.

Although Ohio State has been the underdog all season, everyone has played a role in the team’s success. However, if it weren’t for one player, Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State likely wouldn’t haven’t won as many games as they did.

Three loses to Penn State won’t do them any favors either. At 24-8 with two wins over top-three teams, Ohio State isn’t in line to become a one seed or anything like that. Giving them such a seed would be ridiculous. As of Tuesday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has them as a fifth seed in the South Region versus Middle Tennessee.

With how few ranked teams they beat and the way they lost in the Big Ten conference tournament, Ohio State easily could be knocked down a seed or two. With how their season has unfolded, however, the conference tournament shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

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Lunardi may be right as five seems fair. However, I could see the committee awarding them a four seed but I expect a six. On Sunday, we will know what seed Ohio State is, where they are playing, and who their opponent is.