Spring Break
Buckeyes Not Worth Praises
NCAA Basketball
Justin Verrier
Issue date: 1/22/07 Section: Sports
It seems as if the Ohio State Buckeyes can do no wrong this year.
It's now about halfway through the season and the No. 7 Buckeyes (16-3, 4-1 Big Ten) have been downed three times. Yet, no matter how bad, or how many times they lose, ESPN analysts and sports writers nationwide, for some reason or another, find anything they can to applaud their performance.
When they lost to then-No. 6 North Carolina, the media empathized with a team that played without their freshman phenom, Greg Oden. After being trounced by reigning national champion Florida, they excused the loss because Oden hadn't had enough time to return to form. Then, after being handed their most recent loss to Big Ten foe Wisconsin, all you heard from the ESPN Gameday crew was how good the Buckeyes will be in the tournament.
But the one thing that everyone is not saying seems the most obvious: Ohio State is overrated.
That's not to say this team isn't good. In fact, with the likes of Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and Daequan Cook, head coach Thad Matta has assembled some of the game's most talented young players. But the Buckeyes are far from the great team most predicted they would be during the pre-season-they're not even one of the Top 10 teams.
With the Big Ten being on such a downswing this year after teams like Illinois and Michigan State saw their star players move on to the pros, the Buckeyes play a very soft conference schedule; they're ranked No. 45 in strength of schedule and the only tough game left is a re-match with the Badgers at home on Feb. 25.
As expected, Ohio State has picked up easy wins in conference play, feasting on lesser teams such as Northwestern and most recently Iowa. But they have struggled in all of the games they've played against Top 25 teams this year.
One of the few ways to really gauge a team's worth is to see how they fare against tough competition on the road. So far, the Buckeyes have not proved themselves worthy of the elite status others seem to give them; they lost on the road to North Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin. Senior Ron Lewis gave them their only win against a ranked opponent this year after hitting a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in the game to eek out a victory over a less than stellar Tennessee team.
It's now about halfway through the season and the No. 7 Buckeyes (16-3, 4-1 Big Ten) have been downed three times. Yet, no matter how bad, or how many times they lose, ESPN analysts and sports writers nationwide, for some reason or another, find anything they can to applaud their performance.
When they lost to then-No. 6 North Carolina, the media empathized with a team that played without their freshman phenom, Greg Oden. After being trounced by reigning national champion Florida, they excused the loss because Oden hadn't had enough time to return to form. Then, after being handed their most recent loss to Big Ten foe Wisconsin, all you heard from the ESPN Gameday crew was how good the Buckeyes will be in the tournament.
But the one thing that everyone is not saying seems the most obvious: Ohio State is overrated.
That's not to say this team isn't good. In fact, with the likes of Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and Daequan Cook, head coach Thad Matta has assembled some of the game's most talented young players. But the Buckeyes are far from the great team most predicted they would be during the pre-season-they're not even one of the Top 10 teams.
With the Big Ten being on such a downswing this year after teams like Illinois and Michigan State saw their star players move on to the pros, the Buckeyes play a very soft conference schedule; they're ranked No. 45 in strength of schedule and the only tough game left is a re-match with the Badgers at home on Feb. 25.
As expected, Ohio State has picked up easy wins in conference play, feasting on lesser teams such as Northwestern and most recently Iowa. But they have struggled in all of the games they've played against Top 25 teams this year.
One of the few ways to really gauge a team's worth is to see how they fare against tough competition on the road. So far, the Buckeyes have not proved themselves worthy of the elite status others seem to give them; they lost on the road to North Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin. Senior Ron Lewis gave them their only win against a ranked opponent this year after hitting a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in the game to eek out a victory over a less than stellar Tennessee team.
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