Ohio State learns it gets a No. 2 seed
Buckeyes will play No. 15 Oral Roberts in the first round Friday.
Ohio State is headed back to the Big Dance.
The Buckeyes learned Sunday they received the No. 2 seed in the South Region and will play No. 15 Oral Roberts in the first round Friday.
The winner of that game will face the winner of a game between No. 7 Florida and No. 10 Virginia Tech.
In hopes of limiting COVID19 exposure, the entire tournament will be held in the state of Indiana with Indianapolis hosting most of the games.
After the First Four on Thursday, the round of 64 is set for Friday and Saturday with the second round to be played Sunday and Monday.
Officially, Ohio State is set to make its 30th NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Buckeyes are 51-28 in tournament play and have made 14 trips to the Sweet 16 and 14 Elite Eight appearances (the tournament used to include only eight teams).
Ohio State has been to 10 Final Fours and won it all in 1960. They have lost in the championship game four times, most recently 2007. The Buckeyes also lost the first final in 1939 and were runners-up in ’61 and ’62.
Because of NCAA violations, Ohio State has vacated and does not officially recognize four NCAA Tournament appearances (19992002). That includes an 11th Final Four in ’99.
Coach Chris Holtmann has taken Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament twice and advanced to the second round both times since taking over the program.
Prior to coming to Columbus, he took Butler to the Big Dance in all three of his seasons leading the Bulldogs.
They advanced to the round of 32 in his first two seasons and the Sweet 16 in his third.
Ohio State is one of three teams from the Buckeye State to make the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Cleveland State received an automatic bid for winning the Horizon League Tournament while the Ohio Bobcats qualified by winning the MAC Tournament.
The Vikings’ leading scorer is Torrey Patton, a senior from Trotwood-Madison.
Also set to represent the area in the men’s tournament are Versailles grad Justin Ahrens (Ohio State), Wayne grads D’Mitrik Trice (Wisconsin) and Deshon Parker (Appalachian State) and Dayton native Caleb McConnell (Rutgers), who attended Dunbar High School before finishing at Spire Institute in Northeast Ohio.
Trice led the Badgers in scoring at 13.8 points per game and was named to the All Big Ten third team.
Illinois, Michigan, Gonzaga and Baylor received the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament, which will include games played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Assembly Hall in Bloomington will host the First Four, which previously has never been held anywhere but Dayton.
Teams will practice at the Indiana Convention Center with multiple courts set up inside the venue and be housed on dedicated hotel floors with physically distanced meeting and dining rooms.
Contact this reporter at 937815-4615.