INDIANAPOLIS – The state of Ohio will go to its third consecutive NCAA tournament under coach Chris Holtmann, as the Buckeyes were selected as the runner-up in the Southern Regional when the keys were revealed on Sunday night.
OSU (21-9) will open the tournament game against No. 15 seed, Oral Roberts (16-10), the Summit League champion, on Friday. The website, tip time and television designation are due to be revealed later tonight.
With a victory, the Buckeyes would advance to play the winner of a game between No. 7 seed Florida (14-9) and No. 10 seed Virginia Tech (15-6). That game would be played on Sunday.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire NCAA Tournament is being held at six different locations in central Indiana this year. Final Four is scheduled for April 3-5 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Seed # 2 is the largest seed in the state of Ohio since 2013, when the Buckeyes were seed # 2 in the western region and advanced to the Elite Eight. This is also OSU’s last appearance on Sweet 16.
The No. 1 seeds in the various regions are Gonzaga (26-0; West Region), Baylor (22-2; South), Michigan (20-4; East) and Illinois (23-6; Midwest). Ohio State defeated Michigan 68-67 in a Big Ten semifinal game before falling to Illinois 91-88 in overtime in Sunday’s championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The OSU team was shown clapping in the locker room while watching the NCAA Selection Show about 10 minutes after the championship game ended. The Buckeyes had appeared in Indy after a four-game losing streak at the end of the regular season. Holtmann hopes that this 3 to 1 on display at the Big Ten tournament will take his team to greater heights in the NCAA Tournament.
“I think we needed that,” said Holtmann. “The victory in Minnesota was important (to break the streak) to make me feel better. We carried some of that momentum into the games after that.
“The guys experienced the opportunity to win a championship. It was important for us to play well. As I said, I don’t think we played that badly in that final stretch, except in the Iowa game. We needed to raise our level and we did that.
“We know that there are no guarantees in the tournament. We need to continue to find a way to do this. Each game is a challenge in the tournament. There are no easy ones. “
The state of Ohio was chosen between the fifth and eighth place in the Big Ten in the preseason. The Buckeyes flirted with the leadership of the Big Ten at the end of the year, before this losing streak put them in fifth place. But being 23rd in the pre-season and ending with the second team – endemic to one of the best eight in the country – speaks volumes about what this team has already achieved.
“I will wait before I make many postscripts about this team,” said Holtmann. “I am well aware of where we were chosen earlier. I feel really good about this group. But we are still going up. We just have to be as positive as possible. “
OSU senior guard CJ Walker played in the NCAA tournament twice in his time in the state of Florida, reaching the Elite Eight in the 2018 tournament. He said the team will need to spend the next few days recovering the health of its bodies.
“We will have to try to recover in the best possible way this week, after playing four consecutive difficult games,” he said. “We just have to try to jump as best we can and try to win a national championship.
“I think recovery is one of the most important things at the moment, especially for the guys who spent so many minutes playing against these great teams. Some guys are sore and hurt. The recovery will be great for us. In early March, we need everyone to contribute at a high level. “