Ohio Bobcats Basketball: Why This Non-Top 25 School Will Make the Final Four

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The Ohio Bobcats shocked the world last season in the NCAA tournament by making it all the way to the Sweet 16 and coming up just short against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

There is no reason why the Bobcats can't make a run like that again, but even farther in 2013.

Read on to see why Ohio can make the Final Four in the upcoming season. 

Returning Players

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The Ohio Bobcats will have 10 rotational players returning for the upcoming season. This is pretty much the whole entire team. Just imagine if the Kentucky Wildcats returned all of their rotational players from last season. 

Sure, the Bobcats aren't as good as the Wildcats, but it is still a huge thing when a team can return so many players from the previous season.

As a result, Ohio's team is used to each other and they know what they are capable of. The Bobcats did manage to beat Michigan and South Florida in the NCAA tournament last season and took North Carolina all the way to overtime in the Elite Eight. 

Senior Leadership

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Just about every player of Ohio's starting five will be a senior next season. This includes D.J. Cooper, Walter Offutt, Reggie Keely, and Ivo Baltic.

Junior Nick Kellogg is the only starter who will not be a senior.

For most of these players, this will be it. Players from this school aren't exactly known for going to the NBA. So unlike a lot of the one-and-done players who will be a lock to go to the NBA, these Ohio players will actually play with heart and treat every game like it is their last.

Talent is one thing, but heart is a whole different story. That is something that you cannot teach. 

D.J. Cooper and the Strong Backcourt of the Bobcats

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D.J. Cooper proved that he is one of the best point guards in college basketball last season.

He dropped 21 points against Michigan and then followed that up with 19 against South Florida. This kid is the real deal, but he is not the only guard that should get recognized on Ohio.

Cooper may get most of the credit, but Walter Offutt did average 19.3 points per game in the Big Dance, which included a monster game of 26 points against the Tar Heels.

But wait, there's more.

Nick Kellogg is also a very valuable backcourt player on this team, averaging 9 points per game last season. Kellogg may have not had as impressive of a performance in the dance as Cooper and Offutt, but these three players combined make up one of the best backcourts in all of college basketball.

 

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