Ohio State Basketball: 5 Most Important Games Remaining for Buckeyes

Anyone with even a third-grade understanding of nutrition knows you cannot eat only cupcakes your entire life and be healthy. After all, mom always pushed the vegetables, not the sweets.

Unfortunately for the Ohio State basketball team, all it has eaten in the 2014-15 season is cupcakes, and it doesn’t have a healthy resume as a result.

The Buckeyes have beaten up on the likes of Sacred Heart, Campbell, Colgate, High Point and others and missed their one opportunity to make a statement in a loss to Louisville. All is not lost, though, because there are plenty of opportunities for Ohio State to add some meat and potatoes to that cupcake diet.

It just has to take advantage of those chances.

With that in mind, here is a look at the five most important games remaining on the Buckeyes’ schedule.

Dec. 20 vs. North Carolina (in Chicago)

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Unless the Buckeyes simply blow away the rest of the Big Ten, the selection committee is going to look back on their nonconference schedule in March and use it as important grading criteria when handing out those favorable seeds.

A win over a mediocre-at-best Marquette squad is not going to cut it, either. Since Ohio State lost to Louisville, the Dec. 20 showdown with North Carolina on a neutral floor is its only remaining opportunity to make a statement before Big Ten play. 

Marcus Paige will be a handful for Shannon Scott and D’Angelo Russell, but the Tar Heels already lost to fellow Big Ten member Iowa at home. If the Buckeyes follow the Hawkeyes’ blueprint and bring a physical and relentless style of defense to the table for 40 minutes, they can pick up a marquee nonconference win that resonates all year.

Jan. 13 vs. Michigan

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The importance of an Ohio State and Michigan showdown does not need to be explained in detail, whether it is in football or competitive eating.

The Buckeyes lost twice last season to Michigan, including a game in the Big Ten tournament, and would undoubtedly like some revenge. Considering Thad Matta is a sparkling 17-6 in his Ohio State career against the hated Wolverines, order needs to be restored in Columbus, and the only way to do that is with a win at home over John Beilein’s squad. 

If the Wolverines don’t turn it around soon, the Buckeyes should be able to handle them. Losses to NJIT and Eastern Michigan stain an early resume that is far short of NCAA tournament standards at the moment.

Feb. 14 at Michigan State

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Even when Michigan State is in rebuilding mode, Tom Izzo has the Spartans in contention for a Big Ten crown. Expect nothing different this season, even if they did lose a few early nonconference games to Duke, Notre Dame and Kansas.

Ohio State plays the Spartans only one time all season, and it is in East Lansing. That is a rough break for the Buckeyes, although the Big Ten scheduling gods returned the favor by slating Ohio State’s one game against league-favorite Wisconsin in Columbus.

If we are to work under the assumption that the Badgers are going to win the Big Ten, which is solely an assumption at this point, then Michigan State and Ohio State will likely battle it out for the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

Second place in the Big Ten would be good enough for an impressive seed come March Madness as well, regardless of what actually happened in the conference tournament.

March 4 at Penn State

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This game against Penn State may seem strange embedded in between marquee showdowns against some of the best teams in the Big Ten, but there is a very specific reason it is on here.

The Buckeyes inexplicably lost to the Nittany Lions twice last season, and those defeats seemed to do something to the team’s overall confidence level. After all, Matta’s bunch climbed as high as No. 3 in the country at one point last season but eventually tumbled all the way to a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament.

This game against Penn State is the second-to-last one on the regular-season schedule and comes right before the crucial tilt with Wisconsin. If the Buckeyes somehow lose again to the lowly Nittany Lions, it is difficult to envision them turning right around in the next game and knocking off the Badgers. 

That would mean a losing streak heading into the postseason, which would be particularly difficult on this still rather young group's psyche.

March 8 vs. Wisconsin

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If Ohio State has dreams of a Big Ten championship, which is certainly still realistic at this point, it has to beat Wisconsin.

This is the only crack that the Buckeyes have against the Badgers, and they are fortunate enough to get it in Columbus. That means this one game will serve as a tiebreaker if these two teams end up tied at the end of the year and represents a golden opportunity for the Buckeyes to make a loud statement on a national level right before Selection Sunday. 

Wisconsin went to the Final Four and brought the vast majority of its contributors back from a season ago. It is the team to beat in the Big Ten, so the Buckeyes need to do just that March 8.

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