Ohio State’s path to the Sweet Sixteen starts with one clear problem: finishing games.
The Buckeyes are coming off their most enjoyable season in years, a year that finally got them back to the NCAA Tournament after missing it since the 2021-22 season. Jake Diebler, in his second full season as head coach, guided Ohio State to a 21-13 record before the run ended with a 66-64 loss to TCU in the first round.
That tournament exit fit a frustrating pattern. Ohio State had Bruce Thornton carrying the offense all season, and the veteran guard finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer in the final home game of the regular season.
But even with Thornton steering the ship and meaningful help from John Mobley Jr. and Amare Bynum, the Buckeyes kept coming up short in tight moments. They lost nine games by fewer than 10 points, including the defeats to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament and TCU in the NCAA Tournament.
Those close losses mattered. If Ohio State had flipped even four of them, the Buckeyes likely would have earned a better NCAA Tournament seed and a far more manageable route than being forced to deal with TCU and then Duke in the second round.
The ending against TCU summed up the issue. With only a few seconds left, Ohio State drew up a play that took too long and never produced a clean look. That kind of late-game execution is exactly what has to change if the Buckeyes want to make a deeper March run.
The good news for Ohio State is that the roster still has pieces built for those moments. Mobley returns after handling the ball plenty last season and taking some pressure off Thornton, and he remains one of the best three-point shooters in college basketball.
Bynum is back too, after starting 24 games and averaging nearly 10 points per game as a freshman. His athleticism around the rim gives Ohio State another weapon, and after improving in every game he played last season, he looks ready for a breakout.
Then there’s Anthony Thompson, the five-star recruit and Ohio State’s highest-rated incoming player since Jared Sullinger in 2010. With Thornton now in the NBA, Thompson could quickly become the player the Buckeyes lean on in the biggest spots. He arrives with the kind of talent that can change the ceiling of a team, and he’ll want the ball late in close games.
For Ohio State, the formula is pretty simple: get better in crunch time. Diebler showed some growth in how he managed games last season, and another year on the job should help. If that maturity keeps building, and if Mobley, Bynum and Thompson can deliver when the pressure rises, the Buckeyes have a real chance to turn last season’s progress into a Sweet Sixteen run for the first time since 2013.
In Other News...
Michigan Just Took Another Major Hit Behind The Scenes
Michigans athletic department is dealing with another round of turbulence behind the scenes, with athletic director Warde Manuel reportedly expected to exit at the end of the calendar year. The move comes after an outside firm examined the culture inside the department, though the findings have not been made public, leaving plenty of questions about what prompted the latest shake-up in Ann Arbor.
For Ohio State, the news serves as another reminder of how different things have looked across the rivalry when it comes to athletic department stability. The Buckeyes have largely avoided the kind of public scandal and internal uncertainty now hovering over Michigan, and that contrast matters in a sport where off-field order can be just as important as what happens on game day. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Development Could Suddenly Reshape Ohio States Running Back Board
A recruiting domino in Tennessee is starting to matter well beyond Knoxville. Asa Barnes, the Tennessee running back target from the Volunteer State, is leaning toward staying home, and that could help clarify the top of the board for a pair of programs watching the same market closely. For Ohio State, the ripple effect is less about Barnes himself and more about how one decision can shape the path for another back the Buckeyes have their eyes on.
David Gabriel Georges is the name to watch next, with his choice expected to come after Barnes sorts out his future. Tennessee and Ohio State are both positioned around that decision, but the two schools do not present the same kind of running back picture, and that contrast could wind up mattering as the process unfolds. If Barnes lands where the momentum suggests, the rest of the board may start to move in a direction that gives the Buckeyes a cleaner read on where they stand. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Day Just Hit The Urban Meyer Comparison Fans Dread
Ryan Days Ohio State tenure has now reached the point where the comparisons to Urban Meyer are no longer just about style or expectations. Through seven seasons, the two coaches have lived in the same rarefied air in Columbus, each delivering a national championship and multiple Big Ten crowns while navigating very different versions of college football. The numbers are close enough to invite the conversation, and the circumstances around those numbers are different enough to keep it from being a simple one-to-one matchup.
The larger question is how to weigh all of it. Day has had to coach through the pandemic, the transfer-portal era and a sport that keeps changing around him, while Ohio States path through the Big Ten has also been shaped by expansion and a Michigan scandal that altered the landscape. So the Meyer comparison is flattering on one hand and nerve-wracking on the other, because it puts Day in the same sentence as a standard Buckeye fans still remember vividly. [Read more 🡒]