Ohio State men’s basketball excluded from March Madness, will miss 2024 NCAA Tournament
After playing its way into NCAA Tournament consideration with a late-season push, Ohio State was not selected to participate in March Madness.
The Buckeyes won five of their final six games in the regular season before bowing out to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals to finish 20-13 overall. Ohio State was ranked No. 49 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, used to help the selection committee seed the field, as of Sunday morning.
The Buckeyes have missed the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time since they were not selected in 2016 and 2017. In both cases, that cost the current head coach his job. Thad Matta was fired after the 2017 season and his replacement, Chris Holtmann, was fired this season the day after a Feb. 13 loss at Wisconsin.
Sunday, Ohio State named interim coach Jake Diebler as the full-time head coach.
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Ohio State was not projected to be selected for March Madness after its loss to Illinois. With a win, the Buckeyes would have been in position to remain on the bubble.
The Buckeyes now await the NIT selection show, which takes place Sunday at 9 p.m.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State misses March Madness, excluded 2024 NCAA Tournament
