Previewing Big Ten Basketball: Ohio State

Our Big Ten basketball preview finally arrives in Columbus.  We've already analyzed some of the teams that are predicted to be great next year like Indiana and Wisconsin, but this is the first team we have touched on that won the Big Ten Championship last year.  Thad Matta, the current head coach of Ohio State, has an impressive record of 221-65, a record of 98-40 in the Big Ten, and four deep NCAA Tournament runs at Ohio State, despite making some blunders along the way (please click the link, you will enjoy it).


OSU had some inconsistent play during the 2011-2012 season, but they ultimately finished with a Final Four appearance and a share of the Big Ten Championship.  They entered Big Ten play with a 12-1 record, where their only loss was a road game against Kansas when Jared Sullinger was out with injury.  They played inconsistently to start Big Ten play with a 3-2 record, but both games were close losses and the Buckeyes had a huge target on their backs, which probably added into the upset factor.  They responded well, winning the next 6 games, including a rematch against Indiana, a road win over Wisconsin, and a win over Michigan at home.


At this point, OSU seemed to be the favorite to win the Big Ten.  However, after winning 6 straight games and having a 9-2 record in the Big Ten, the Buckeyes stumbled to a 2-3 record over the next 5 games.  After losing these games, there was just be too much to overcome for OSU to remain the "dominant" team in the Big Ten.  They had an uphill battle the rest of the season, but they won all of their remaining regular season games, made it to the Big Ten Tournament final, and won 4 NCAA Tournament games before collapsing at the very end of the game against Kansas to miss the NCAA Tournament final.