Ohio State selected for NIT, will host Cornell in first round
The man who would soon become Ohio State’s full-time head coach was unequivocal in his answer.
It was Friday night in Minneapolis and No. 10 seed Ohio State had just seen its Big Ten Tournament opportunity end with a loss to No. 2 seed Illinois. The 77-74 defeat was all but guaranteed to keep the Buckeyes outside of the NCAA Tournament, but by going 6-2 in its last eight games Ohio State was positioned for an NIT opportunity.
Throughout the locker room, some of the Buckeyes voiced immediate desire to play. Others said they wanted to discuss it as a team before coming to a decision.
“I’m looking forward to getting back, maybe catching up on a little bit of lost sleep and get rejuvenated for hopefully a little postseason run,” Jake Diebler, then the interim coach, said inside the Target Center.
Now they have their chance. Now they have their chance. Ohio State is a No. 2 seed and will host Cornell in the first round of the NIT. With a win, the Buckeyes will get the winner of No. 3 seed Virginia Tech and Richmond in a game that will be played either Saturday or Sunday.
The Buckeyes and the Big Red will play Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised by ESPN2. Tickets will go on sale Monday at noon and can be purchased at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
Cornell went 22-7 this season and was 11-3 in the Ivy League. Ohio State and Cornell have not played since the 1968-69 season, when the No. 12 Buckeyes beat the Big Red 96-78 in Cleveland on Jan. 24.
The news provides another piece of finality to what was a lengthy list of questions once the Buckeyes bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament. After losing to the Fighting Illini, the Buckeyes returned to Columbus unsure if they would have another opportunity to play. And if they did, the question of who might coach them and what kind of player participation they would have created extra uncertainty about what was ahead.
By Saturday night, Ohio State was zeroed in on moving Diebler from interim coach to head coach. By midday Sunday, Diebler had met with the team and was publicly announced as the full-time leader for the program. Sunday evening, Ohio State was not included in the NCAA Tournament field.
It all paved the way for the Buckeyes, as the top-rated Big Ten team in the NET rankings to not be selected to play in March Madness, to play in the NIT.
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This will be Ohio State’s 10th appearance in the NIT and first since 2016. That year, the Buckeyes beat Akron 72-63 in overtime and lost to Florida 74-66 inside Value City Arena.
Overall, Ohio State is 19-8 in the NIT and won the event in both 1986 and in 2008.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State selected for NIT, will host Cornell in first round
