Oller's Second Thoughts: Ohio State basketball brings elements of surprise, frustration
Raise your hand if a month ago you thought Ohio State men’s basketball would advance deeper into March than the OSU women.
I didn’t think so.
Granted, the women actually made the NCAA Tournament. The men came up short and settled for the NIT. Advantage ladies. But I thought the women would advance at least to the Sweet 16, where I had them losing to Southern California, but I would not have been surprised if the Buckeyes had reached the Final Four, even the championship game.
Instead, they got bounced by Duke in the second round.
At home, no less.
More Rob Oller: Oller's Second Thoughts: Big Ten, SEC trying to run college football into playoff iceberg
What happened? Nothing that, with the exception of last season, doesn’t usually happen. Ohio State made the Elite Eight in 2023, but that was out of character. In 11 seasons under coach Kevin McGuff, the Buckeyes have made the Sweet 16 three times, failed to make it out of the second round three times, and twice got bounced in the first round, including once in the WNIT. (COVID canceled the 2019-20 season and OSU self-imposed a postseason ban in 2020-21).
This was the best Ohio State team of the past decade, which makes the early exit especially frustrating for fans who thought the Buckeyes turned a corner last year with their appearance in the Elite Eight. Nope. Duke outplayed and outcoached OSU, leaving a familiar sour taste.
Ohio State women's basketball: Arace: Duke women pull off March Madness shocker and defeat Buckeyes in NCAA Tournament
On the other hand, the Ohio State men are rolling. After defeating Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Buckeyes are one win from making the NIT Final Four in Indianapolis. Drivable! Defeat Georgia on Tuesday in the quarterfinals at Value City Arena and it’s off to Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse.
True, it’s just the NIT; OSU wasn’t good enough to make the Big Dance. But for this team, left for dead on Valentine’s Day, any postseason win counts as a sparkling achievement. Six weeks ago, the Buckeyes were roadkill, unable to win games away from home, where they weren’t exactly world beaters anyway.
Then Jake Diebler replaced Chris Holtmann on Feb. 14 and OSU has gone 8-2 since, including wins against No. 2 Purdue and at Michigan State, which broke a school-record 17-game road losing streak.
Let’s table the discussion on whether Diebler’s promotion from interim to full-time head coach was the right decision. Time will settle that debate. For now, tip your cap to Diebler for chartering the Buckeyes through choppy waters, and simply enjoy this unexpected ride.
A dynamite hockey team in Columbus? Believe it
A well-deserved salute to the Ohio State women’s hockey team, which for the second time in three years proved it possible the Arch City can produce championship hockey.
Maybe not at Nationwide Arena, but the Buckeyes brought another national title to Columbus by defeating Wisconsin 1-0 Sunday in the NCAA Frozen Four championship game in Durham, New Hampshire. The Buckeyes also won the championship two years ago.
It’s too soon to label OSU’s championship skaters a dynasty, but coach Nadine Muzerall has the program at the top of the sport. The Blue Jackets should take notes.
Karma comes for SEC commish Greg Sankey
Greg Sankey needs to bone up on the scriptures. If the Southeastern Conference commissioner realized that “pride goeth before the fall,” he probably would have kept his mouth shut instead of sticking his foot down his gullet.
After suggesting on March 15 that the NCAA should expand, because “we are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers (from smaller leagues)” − i.e. potential Cinderellas are mucking up March Madness − Sankey watched as only three of eight SEC teams advanced to the Round of 32. The biggest piece of humble pie Sankey had to choke down was No. 3 Kentucky’s loss to No. 14 Oakland, winner of the itty-bitty Horizon League.
Sankey may yet get a chance to crow, with Alabama and Tennessee advancing to the Sweet 16, but his main point fell apart over the first two rounds. Arrogance prevented him from understanding that a big reason the NCAA Tournament is so popular is that America loves underdogs, especially when they take a bite out of the top dogs.
Listening in
“I’m just so thankful for my wife (Alicia), she makes this all possible. Life is hard. It’s obviously glamorous at times like this, and this is my dream job and it’s absolutely amazing, but life is really, really hard, too, trying to figure out how to live this lifestyle and have two kids and be everything you want to be. And my wife has been an absolute rock through all of it.” – PGA Tour player Peter Malnati, Sunday after winning the Valspar Championship.
Off-topic
Took the huge silver maple down this week. It was time. The tree stood for nearly 75 years, past its standard life expectancy, in a postage stamp-sized backyard that made the 65-foot giant the center of attention. Neighbors are sad, having grown up watching the soft maple survive high winds and freezing temperatures, even as their own lives experienced similar extremes. I get it. An ever-present sentinel that had become sickly, has been reduced to sawdust. A moment of silence is in order. If trees could talk, this one would say it lived a good life. So long, friend.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Oller's Second Thoughts: Ohio State basketball a case study in opposite emotions
