There are many reasons to lock into Ohio State's game against Indiana on Saturday.
The Buckeyes can all but secure their first NCAA Tournament berth in four years. Bruce Thornton is 12 points away from breaking the school's all-time scoring record on Senior Night. It's also his bobblehead night.
But there are also direct implications for the Big Ten Tournament.
Ohio State clinches a double-bye to the third round with a victory over the Hoosiers, and could find more favorable matchups in the third round and quarterfinals as the seventh seed should UCLA fall at USC.
| Team | Conference Record | Overall Record |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 18-1 | 28-2 |
| Michigan State | 15-4 | 25-5 |
| Nebraska | 14-5 | 25-5 |
| Illinois | 14-5 | 22-7 |
| Purdue | 13-6 | 23-7 |
| Wisconsin | 13-6 | 21-9 |
| UCLA | 12-7 | 20-10 |
| Ohio State | 11-8 | 19-11 |
| Iowa | 10-9 | 20-10 |
| Indiana | 9-10 | 18-12 |
| USC | 7-12 | 18-12 |
| Minnesota | 7-12 | 14-16 |
| Washington | 7-12 | 15-15 |
| Northwestern | 5-14 | 13-17 |
| Rutgers | 5-14 | 12-18 |
| Maryland | 4-15 | 11-19 |
| Oregon | 4-15 | 11-19 |
| Penn State | 3-16 | 12-18 |
Each Big Ten team has one game remaining in its regular season. The Buckeyes hold a one-game lead over Iowa for the eighth seed in the Big Ten Tournament, and the top eight seeds receive double-byes straight through to the third round. The Hawkeyes hold a head-to-head win over Ohio State – one of the team's worst losses this season – and would win a tiebreaker between the two of them as a result.
Thus, the Buckeyes need a win or an Iowa loss to secure a double-bye. The Hawkeyes play at No. 9 Nebraska to close their regular season, so the latter outcome is possible, but Ohio State would obviously prefer the first. Especially for NCAA Tournament reasons.
Should Ohio State win and the Bruins drop their game against the Trojans, OSU will take the seventh seed on the tiebreaker after beating UCLA head-to-head earlier in the year. That would avoid both a potential third-round matchup with Iowa and a quarterfinal standoff with top-seeded Michigan, which has already clinched the Big Ten regular season title. The Buckeyes' likely third-round matchup, should it secure the seventh seed, is a rematch with Indiana, assuming the then-10th-seeded Hoosiers can beat the winner of seeds 15 and 18 in the second round.
Plenty of stakes are baked into Ohio State's showdown with Indiana on Saturday. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. on FOX.
