Jeff Boals and the Ohio Bobcats are going dancing.
In the former Ohio State assistant coach's second season as Ohio's head coach, the Bobcats won the MAC Tournament, earning an automatic bid into the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
WHO WANTS TO DANCE?! pic.twitter.com/QgHbJZOv5f
— Ohio Men's Basketball (@OhioMBasketball) March 14, 2021
As the No. 5 seed in the MAC Tournament, the Bobcats beat three of the top four teams in the conference's regular-season standings – No. 4 seed Kent State, No. 1 seed Toledo and finally, No. 2 seed Buffalo – to win the conference championship and earn their berth in the Big Dance.
OU rolled to a 85-63 win over Kent State in the MAC quarterfinals, then earned an 87-80 upset win over Toledo in the semifinals. The Bobcats completed their unexpected run to a conference title and an NCAA Tournament bid by defeating Buffalo, 84-69, on Saturday night.
It marks the first time Boals, who was an assistant coach for the Buckeyes from 2009-16, has made the NCAA Tournament as a head coach. He began his head coaching career in 2016 at Stony Brook, where he spent three seasons before getting the job at Ohio, his alma mater.
