Welcome to the postseason, hockey fans. Ohio State begins its Big Ten tournament run this afternoon. In addition to contending for the conference crown, the Bucks seek a deep run in order to keep their hope of an at large NCAA berth alive.
Thanks to their best start-to-finish series in months last week and the ensuing sweep of Wisconsin, the Buckeyes enter the Big Ten tourney as the No. 3 seed. They face No. 6 Michigan State in a first round, single elimination game today at 4:30 p.m.
| Day | time | big ten tournament schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday | 4:30 p.m. | No. 6 Michigan State vs. No. 3 Ohio State |
| 8:00 p.m. | No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 4 Penn State | |
| Friday | 4:30 p.m. | MSU/OSU vs. No. 2 Wisconsin |
| 8:00 p.m. | MCH/PSU vs. No. 1 Minnesota | |
| Saturday | 8:00 p.m. | Big Ten championship game |
The Spartans come into the contest 1-4-1-1 in their last six outings. An unimpressive stat, to be sure, but before you start looking ahead to the semifinals, you should remember that MSU’s one win was a 5-4 decision over Ohio State. The Bucks got off to a slow start in that game. They rallied but couldn’t climb out of the deep hole they dug for themselves at the outset of the tilt.
I see no reason to think the forecast of today’s game is substantially different from any other contest between the Buckeyes and Spartans this season. Michigan State cannot be overlooked. However, if Ohio State rolls out a solid, defensively responsible effort (i.e. not trailing 4-0 at the first intermission), then the Bucks should advance to the semifinals.
| pairwise | bubble Teams |
|---|---|
| No. 11 | North Dakota |
| T-No. 12 | Providence |
| T-No. 12 | Penn State |
| No. 14 | Ohio State |
| T-No. 15 | Air Force |
| T-No. 15 | Boston College |
Steve Rohlik also thinks defense will be the lynch pin for success against the Spartans. The Buckeye head coach said this week that, “Our offense will start from our defensive end if our guys buy in. I thought we did a pretty good job of time and space against Wisconsin and, also, I thought our guys are sacrificing themselves all over, blocked a lot of shots. If you think about it, if you can play good, solid defense, that’ll lead to good offense and that’s kind of been our focus.”
If the Bucks do move on, they will face a rematch with the Badgers. Wisconsin has had ample time to stew over Ohio State’s regular season-ending sweep, but I think this match up favors the Bucks as well. Although the teams split their regular season series 2-2-0-0, the Badgers have not yet defeated a full-strength OSU squad.
This is not to say the Buckeyes don’t need to clock in for a full 60 minutes. Only that, if they do, the results should be to their advantage.
Beyond Wisconsin lies the Big Ten championship game. If Ohio State gets there then, win or lose, I think they have a decent chance at making the NCAA tourney. A B1G championship secures an autobid, but even a runner up placement should leave OSU in good position in the PairWise rankings. Of course, this speculation is moot if the Buckeyes can’t beat Michigan State today.
The Other Side of the Bracket
In the other first round match up, No. 5 Michigan and No. 4 Penn State tangle for a third consecutive game. The Wolverines swept the Nittany Lions last week. They are 4-2-0-0 in their last six games with wins over Minnesota and Ohio State in addition to that PSU sweep. I think we might see an upset here. If that happens and the Bucks also beat Michigan State, OSU swaps places with the Nittany Lions in the PairWise.
Like Wisconsin, top seeded Minnesota awaits a challenger in the B1G semis. The Gophers are the only Big Ten team that can feel secure in its PairWise status (No. 5). Minnesota is favored to win the tournament, though the team’s roster did take a hit in the regular season finale against Michigan State. The Gophers lost standout freshman defender and Boston Bruins draft pick Ryan Lindgren (1-6--7, 50 blocked shots) to a season-ending lower body injury.
How to Watch
All Big Ten tournament games will be televised live on BTN. They are also all available to stream online and on mobile devices via BTN2Go. 1460 AM The Fan will have radio broadcasts covering all of Ohio State's games.
