NCAA Basketball: 3 Reasons Ohio State Will Not Win the Championship
By on March 14, 2011
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Ohio State Will Not Be Cutting Down The Nets At The Final Four This Year
Ohio State earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes have been the best team in college basketball since the first game of the year way back in November because they have a great nucleus of players led by Jared Sullinger. They are a 7-2 favorite to win the tournament, according to the race and sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Everyone is so high on Ohio State. Gary Parrish from CBSSports.com has them as No. 1 on the list of seven teams that he could see winning it all. He has them in the Final Four against San Diego State and then winning it all against Kansas in the title game.
Pat Forde from ESPN.com says that Ohio State has "the best six-man rotation in college basketball." You would be hard pressed to argue with that point, but if any one of those six players gets into foul trouble or has an "off night," shooting this team could be in trouble.
To be fair, Forde does mention potential problems that the Buckeyes could face in the tournament. "An injury or foul trouble could unspring everything," Forde wrote. "A team relying on a freshman point guard and freshman center...could wobble in the March crucible."
That's the biggest point of contention that I have with Ohio State. Yes, the Buckeyes are talented, but at the same time, they are very young. In last year's tournament, Kentucky had all the talent in the world, but the Wildcats were too young and got bounced in the Elite Eight by West Virginia.
Another thing that concerns me is the schedule that this team has played. What is this team's signature win? They beat a good (not great) Florida team in the second game of the season. They beat Wisconsin, but as Penn State revealed in the Big Ten tournament, that isn't the most impressive victory in the world.
Look at the teams they beat in the conference tournament: Northwestern in overtime, Michigan and Penn State.
That's not exactly a murderer's row of teams.
The third and final point of contention I have with Ohio State is the Buckeyes' bracket. The selection committee did not do this team any favors with the other teams in their region. The two, three and four-seeds in their bracket are North Carolina, Syracuse and Kentucky. Going deeper, George Mason, the eight-seed, is a good, dangerous team. Don't underestimate West Virginia at the five-seed either because they have a number of impressive wins this season including Louisville, Connecticut and Notre Dame.
Ohio State is a very good team. The Buckeyes have won 32 games on the year and deserve to be a one-seed, but this team is not the best team in the tournament. They will be knocked out in the Sweet 16 by Kentucky, another young team that is playing really well right now and looks extremely dangerous.
Check out Bleacher Report's NCAA Tournament page by clicking here.
Download the NCAA Tournament Bracket by clicking here.
Related Story: The Most Overrated And Underrated Teams In The NCAA Tournament
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