NCAA Tournament March Madness

#40 Ohio St

Bubble Watch | Bracketology

Chat with the Bracketologist | How does this work?


Projected seed: 11 (last four in)

Ohio State's résumé reads like a classic bubble profile because it pairs clear, résumé-building moments with damaging lapses. Road wins at Oregon and a neutral-site victory over West Virginia plus a statement home win against UCLA show the roster can win important games away from friendly surroundings, but that upside is offset by a home loss to Illinois, tough defeats at Washington and at Michigan and close losses on neutral floors and at Pittsburgh that highlight inconsistency and defensive vulnerability. The remaining slate offers meaningful opportunities to flip the resume with road trips to Wisconsin and Maryland, home chances against Michigan and USC and a marquee neutral matchup with Virginia, yet those same games also threaten to push them further toward the edge if results go the wrong way. That balance of quality wins, damaging losses and a clear but risky set of remaining chances is exactly why they sit precariously on the wrong side of an automatic bid.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3IUPUI325W118-102
11/7PFW230W94-68
11/11Appalachian St216W75-53
11/16Notre Dame79W64-63
11/20W Michigan266W91-58
11/25Mt St Mary's297W113-60
11/28@Pittsburgh100L67-66
12/6@Northwestern62W86-82
12/9Illinois4L88-80
12/13(N)West Virginia58W89-88
12/20(N)North Carolina28L71-70
12/23Grambling279W89-63
1/2@Rutgers155W80-73
1/5Nebraska11L72-69
1/8@Oregon98W72-62
1/11@Washington48L81-74
1/17UCLA39W86-74
1/20Minnesota82W82-74
1/23@Michigan2L74-62
1/26Penn St125W84-78
1/31@Wisconsin4139%
2/5@Maryland12274%
2/8Michigan222%
2/11USC4766%
2/14(N)Virginia1633%
2/17Wisconsin4161%
2/22@Michigan St715%
2/25@Iowa2327%
3/1Purdue935%
3/4@Penn St12574%
3/7Indiana3157%