In case you turned in early, let me be the first to tell you Ohio State's window of opportunity widened a bit as Wichita State shocked the West's #1 seed, Gonzaga, last night in Salt Lake City.
The Shockers overcame an eight-point deficit with just under 12 minutes to play and closed the game on a 16-7 run featuring three straight triples to advance to the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles.
Beyond the potential benefit afforded Ohio State by seeing the top seed exiting the Dance early, the game showcased exactly why this tournament is the single greatest spectacle in sports. The underdog embraced the big stage and took a five-point lead into the half, saw it quickly erased, but managed to hang around on the strength of 14 treys, splashing huge shot after huge shot.
The upset was the sixth in the West Region thus far, giving #2 seed Ohio State – on paper at least – a highly favorable slate provided they play their game. With Gonzaga's loss, the #1 seed, #3 seed (New Mexico), #4 seed (Kansas State) and #5 seed (Wisconsin) have all been sent packing.
Sixth-seeded Arizona remains, and would be Ohio State's opponent in the Staples Center next Thursday, as long as the Buckeyes take care of business against #10 seed Iowa State early this afternoon.
In the top portion of the West bracket, the Shockers await the winner of #12 Ole Miss and #13 La Salle. Again, there is still much work to be done, and no game is a gimme from here on out but you have to like how things are breaking in Ohio State's region.
FIRST THINGS FIRST. While there's no question the Buckeyes have a gigantic opportunity to take the West thanks to the noted upsets, they obviously can't get caught looking ahead. Today, the Buckeyes face an Iowa State squad that can be exceptionally dangerous thanks to their ability to shoot threes.
The Cyclones are the top three-point shooting team in the country, taking 44% of their shots from distance. Often employing four, and sometimes even five perimeter players on the court at the same time, ISU looks to spread the floor and create open looks off dribble penetration kick-outs.
It's always a little nerve-wracking to watch an opponent that constantly bombs threes but the way Ohio State's perimeter defense has played during the current nine-game winning streak, ISU's style could play into Thad Matta's hands. Further, Ohio State has proven to be a much more dangerous offensive team when both Aaron Craft and Shannon Scott are on the floor together and we should see plenty of that combo today.
A win over the Cyclones would vault Ohio State into the Sweet 16 for the fourth year in a row, setting a school record in the process.
Check back later this morning for Kyle's extended game preview.
B1G TIME. Today is a huge day for the B1G as four conference teams take their shot at reaching the round of 16. We all know how tough the B1G conference play was this season but as we also know, it's what you do in March that matters most.
Thus far, the conference has proven its Dance mettle, posting a combined 8-1 record. Wisconsin's loss to Ole Miss remains the lone blemish and through yesterday's games, the B1G teams were winning by an average of 18 points.
Michigan and Michigan State have already advanced to the Sweet 16 and looked good doing it but today's matchups will be a much taller order. The Buckeyes and Indiana are favored to advance as well, but Minnesota is a nine-point dog against Florida and Illinois is in an even more precarious spot as they face the red-hot Miami Hurricanes down in Austin. A realistic expectation is that both OSU and Indiana advance, giving the B1G four entrants in the Sweet 16 and a combined 10-3 tournament record.
The Big East will finish with three teams in the Sweet 16 in Louisville, Syracuse and Marquette but as a whole, the conference is just 6-5 in the tournament. Charles Barkley's Pac-12 has two teams in the Sweet 16 in Oregon and Arizona and stands at just 5-3 in tourney play. Oregon has looked good but they draw an impressive Louisville squad next Friday while Arizona will face the winner of Ohio State and Iowa State.
All class. THERE'S NO 'I' IN TEAM, BUT THERE'S A 'ME'. At this point in the tournament, my two favorite teams are Ohio State and whoever beats Ole Miss. Maybe I'm just a grumpy, old hater but I've long been over watching and hearing the media celebrate Marshall Henderson.
The attention whore was back at it again following his 6/21 shooting effort against Wisconsin, as he hit McFadden's bar which is located just around the corner from Sprint Arena. I realize Henderson is a different cat and there's nothing overtly wrong about going to a bar especially if he wasn't drinking, but can't he just keep things low-key and not go out of his way to draw attention to himself during the most important part of the season?
Again, as a standalone incident it's not really that big of a deal but when you couple it with all his other antics this year, I'm ready for him to run out of eligibility. Watching him blatantly taunt opponents and fans, engage in childish Twitter wars or throw ice into his team's own student section makes me even prouder to have players like Craft and a coach like Matta at Ohio State.
HOT SPORTS LINKS. He hasn't advanced to the second weekend of the Dance since '09 but Jamie Dixon was given a 10-year extension yesterday by Pitt... Harvey Updike gets six months in jail for poisoning the trees in Toomer's Corner... High school girls basketball team members conspire to put urine in the opponent's water cooler... Nix and Appling having a towel fight in Sparty's huddle... Is he cussing about the score or his choice in headwear?... Crazy Arizona fan is crazy... Reports say UCLA has canned Ben Howland.
