It’s March Madness time. The NCAA men's and women's college basketball tournament starts this week. Four schools in Ohio will be included in the men's competition. Ohio State University is in this year for the first time in four years. The Buckeyes are an eighth seed that will play Thursday against Texas Christian University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Also in the tournament is Miami University, which went undefeated in the regular season. Wright State and Akron are also playing.
WOSU’s Debbie Holmes spoke with Columbus Dispatch sportswriter, Adam Jardy about this year's tournament.
Debbie Holmes: OSU is back after a four-year drought. What do you see as their strong qualities that could lead to a victory versus TCU?
Adam Jardy: This is a team that's been healthier recently. They had a lot of guys missing time throughout the season for injuries and illness, and they've been able to get those guys back in the lineup and get them healthy and consistently playing and practicing together. So, they've been able to string together some high-quality stretches of play on a more consistent basis than really at any point this season. And so, you factor in, you know, kind of getting that positive momentum going and having everybody available. They're peaking at the right time of the season and so they're putting all that together right now and they've really played some of their best basketball here as of late.
Debbie Holmes: If (the Buckeyes) beat TCU, they'd have to play Duke, which is the number one seed. It's a team I despise, but does OSU have any chance to beat the Blue Devils?
Adam Jardy: I would say more than a 0% chance. I don't know if anybody has a great chance of beating Duke right now, although Duke is injured. They have two key players who could be out for that game, one who certainly will be out. And Ohio State has played, like I said, as of late, they've played some of the best basketball in the country. In the month of March, they've rated as the number five team nationally. So they would have a shot for sure. And it's a game that I would really enjoy covering. It's a game I would like to see. I don't know if I like anybody's chances against Duke, but yes, they have shot.
Debbie Holmes: Did the Buckeyes have to get in the tournament for coach Jake Diebler to stay with the team? He's only been there for about two years. He took over after Chris Holtman was fired for losing too many games.
Adam Jardy: Well, it certainly removes any doubt, you know, there was certainly some consternation, I think, especially after they lost at Iowa in late February by 17 points. And it kind of felt like things were maybe starting to unravel a little bit in the season. That put them on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble at that moment. But this team galvanized and you know they rallied around each other. They've played high-level basketball since then. And I think that that has shown certainly the buy-in that they have and the belief that they're still talented, that they can still get where they want to go. Had things gone in a different direction, had they turned a two-game losing streak into a three-four, five-game losing streak, it might have been the topic of conversation. But he has a lot of support within the athletic department and within the people that make those decisions and that help financially support their NIL (name, image and likeness) efforts. So, I think he probably was safe no matter what, but it certainly helped that they kept winning.
Debbie Holmes: What about the Miami Redhawks? They had a fantastic regular season going undefeated. They will play SMU (Southern Methodist University) today.
Adam Jardy: That's been one of the most interesting stories of the season and certainly going 31 and 0 you can't discount that. I think anybody that says that, you know, it's easy to do or whatever, like you don't see teams do that. You know, at any level of college basketball, you're not often seeing teams finish with a perfect record going into the conference tournament. So, I think, you know, if they had won one, or two, more games in the MAC tournament, maybe they would have gotten a higher seed. I feel like it would have been nice to see them avoid having to play in Dayton in the first four games. But you know they've turned the MAC into a two-bid league this year, and they're going to have an opportunity to, you know, show the national stage what they can do when they play here in Dayton. So, I'm glad they're in, and selfishly, personally, I'm rooting for them to make some noise.
Debbie Holmes: Who do you think will be part of the Final Four and then who could win?
Adam Jardy: I have a hard time picking against the top seeds this year. I mean, I think Duke and Arizona are certainly two of the favorites. I really like the way that Houston is playing, and you can't discount Kelvin Sampson, their coach. I'm a big fan of the way that Iowa State plays and I think they've got a shot to get there as well, if Michigan can’t come out of that region. So probably some combination of those teams. Maybe Florida can get back there again this season, but I do think it's another year where we're probably talking about one and two seeds in the Final Four.
