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A year after playing for NCAA title, OSU to host UNC-Asheville
By Rusty Miller
Associated Press
Published on Monday, Mar 17, 2008
COLUMBUS: A year after finishing second in the nation, Ohio State isn't even in the top 65.
Last year's national runner-up, the Buckeyes were overlooked when the NCAA Tournament bracket was announced Sunday night and had to settle for a National Invitation Tournament home game against UNC-Asheville on Tuesday night.
Coach Thad Matta said the slight will serve as an educational tool for his young team.
''One of the questions I asked them (the younger players) a month and a half ago was, do you make the NCAA Tournament because you put an Ohio State uniform on?'' Matta said Sunday night. ''They all kind of laughed. They know now that there's a lot more that goes into it.''
Ohio State hoped that a 19-13 record, a decent RPI (49), two late wins over ranked opponents (Purdue, Michigan State), a 10-8 Big Ten record and a difficult schedule (ranked 13th toughest in the country) might be enough to get it into the tournament.
UNC-Asheville (23-9) made it to the Big South title game before losing.
''UNC-Asheville will be another difficult test,'' said Matta, whose team has played a ranked opponent in five of its past six games. ''We are fortunate to keep playing.''
The Buckeyes weren't the only Ohio team in the NIT. Dayton (21-10) hosts Cleveland State (21-12) on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in another first-round game.
If Ohio State wins its first-round game, it would play the winner of New Mexico at Cal.
Two wins by the Buckeyes could match them against Dayton or Cleveland State, which would need to beat the winner of Utah State at Illinois State to set up a showdown with Ohio State.
The NIT championship is April 3 at Madison Square Garden.
The Buckeyes were disconsolate after finding out they had been left out of the NCAA Tournament field.
''We're just as good as some of the other teams that were put in front of us in the (NCAA) tournament,'' forward Matt Terwilliger said. ''I think if we make a run here, we can prove that.''
Costly losses to a couple of bottom-dwellers in the Big Ten and a four-game losing skid undoubtedly hurt the Buckeyes' chances of making it back into the tournament.
''They always say you get what you deserve and I think we did,'' said senior point guard Jamar Butler. ''The game at Iowa, the game at Michigan — and you can throw some others in there that we could have won but didn't come ready to play — they came back to haunt us.''
A year ago, the Buckeyes lost to defending champion Florida — which also didn't make the field this time around. It was the first time since 1980 that both finalists missed the NCAA field the following year.
Ohio State lost the heart of that team, with two senior starters graduating and three stellar freshman leaving for the NBA draft, where they were taken No. 1 overall (center Greg Oden), No. 4 (Mike Conley Jr.) and No. 21 (Daequan Cook).
''It shows you about how much things change,'' Matta said. ''When you lose three freshmen in the top 21 of the NBA Draft — which has never been done before — it's hard to get your flow, your continuity going.''
Matta was asked if he felt it was worth it to trade one spectacular year with a number of one-then-done freshmen stars for a follow-up year tinged with disappointment.
''I think it is, especially when you look and say you were as close as we were to being back in the NCAA Tournament,'' he said.
With only one starter (Butler) back from that 35-4 team, the Buckeyes came close with two freshmen and two second-year players in the starting lineup.
''I hope what these guys walk away with is, hey, we didn't get it done,'' Matta said. ''There's reasons that we've got to get corrected. You look at the new challenges ahead and say, let's go try to play more basketball and keep winning.''
COLUMBUS: A year after finishing second in the nation, Ohio State isn't even in the top 65.
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