Ohio State's men's basketball team fell to Virginia on Saturday night, and its tournament chances are looking bleak.
The Ohio State Buckeyes' men's basketball team is on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament, and they had a chance to improve their resume on Saturday night against the No. 15 Virginia Cavaliers.
In a game that they absolutely needed, the Buckeyes were unable to get the job done, falling 70-66 and dropping their record to 16-9 on the year.
After their win over USC on Wednesday, ESPN's Bracketology had the Buckeyes as its First Team Out. They did receive good news on Thursday night when Northwestern's net ranking jumped to 73, which made that win a Quad 1 victory, so they had life.
Just because they had life didn't mean the road would be easy.
They were already facing an uphill battle, and then about four hours before tip-off, they got the news that guard John Mobley Jr. would be out indefinitely with an injury to his hand. A gut punch for the Buckeyes as they had Virginia waiting for them on the other side.
To their credit, they came out fighting against the Cavaliers. They went into the halftime break tied at 39, and Virginia really never pulled away. Guard Bruce Thornton led the way with 28 points and 4 rebounds. He was 12-21 from the field and was doing everything that he could to will the Buckeyes to victory, but it was to no avail.
So, where does this leave the Buckeyes?
In my opinion, this team is squarely on life support. They have six regular-season games remaining, each of which will be a major challenge.
I've been saying it all along, they need to go at least 5-2 in their final seven games to have a legit chance at making the bracket. I still believe that to be the case. However, does the team have the ability to go 5-1 in their final six games?
Remaining for Ohio State is a home tilt against Wisconsin, a trip to No. 10 Michigan State, a trip to Iowa, home against No. 13 Purdue, at Penn State, and then home versus Indiana.
I see maybe two potential wins on that schedule against Penn State and maybe Indiana. If that becomes the reality, there is no reason that they will get in on their own merit. They would then be reliant on winning the Big Ten Tournament, and that itself is another tall task.
The Buckeyes are facing an uphill climb to get to the tournament, and they will need a miracle to get the job done.
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