When Ohio State struggles on the hardwood as it has the past two seasons – relative to some of Matta's more talented squads, at least – there will be a constant search for reasons why.
Those within the program will be more practical about it, addressing team needs in recruiting and possibly reevaluating how they develop players on and off the court. One area of concern Buckeye fans constantly point to is how Thad Matta and the athletic department handle the non-conference slate.
This upcoming season will feature high quality opponents before OSU enters Big Ten play. Unfortunately, many of those games are on the road or at neutral sites. The Buckeyes play Memphis in Miami, Kentucky in Brooklyn and travel to Connecticut. Those are three of the most successful programs in the country over the past decade.
Objectively, the only worthwhile team coming to Columbus is Virginia – apologies to Louisiana Tech, who won at least 27 games in each of the last three seasons. The matchup against the Cavaliers is dictated by the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, so it required little effort to coordinate.
Even though a successful UVA program will play at The Schott, it doesn't necessarily mean fans will show up and ignite rare, early-season passion for the basketball team.
Athletic director Gene Smith disagrees with that assessment.
"Fan participation [in non-conference games] has always been kind of shaky, with the exception of the big games," Smith told Eleven Warriors' Eric Seger. "This year, we picked up Virginia in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, so that will be rocking."
The problem with the Cavaliers is purely because of the perception surrounding the program. Ralph Sampson, Joe Harris and consecutive ACC regular-season championships aside, Virginia doesn't have a rich basketball history. Certainly not when compared to fellow ACC schools, such as North Carolina, Duke, Louisville and Syracuse.
Additionally, the Cavs suffer from a notion they play "boring basketball." The team registered the third slowest tempo in the country last season, according to KenPom.com.
Head coach Tony Bennett even addressed that on his radio show in February.
"You can’t control what people think. The opinions of others do not matter," Bennett said, via the Washington Post. "We’re trying to play as good as we can. I’ve talked about this before; that’s the beauty of college basketball — there’s different styles. There’s not a cookie-cutter style. This is not the NBA. We don’t have the NBA talent and you win different ways."
Ohio State hasn't really drawn a big crowd for a non-conference game since 2012. That year, OSU played Kansas and lost by eight. The season before, a perfect combination of a talented Buckeye squad and glamour opponents at home – Florida and Duke – led to a rare, festive atmosphere at The Schott.
Usually, Matta pads his resume with home wins against a soft non-conference schedule. It's not a criticism, the number of Big Ten titles erase that notion.
What concerns Smith, more than anything related to the basketball program, is the atmosphere at games.
"Most schools would pass out to have 16,000 people [on average]. Our challenge is we got the Schott at (19,000), which is one of the largest in the country," Smith said. "I was never really disappointed with our attendance numbers. I was disappointed just in the atmosphere. Just wasn't there to help our team get going and that's the way our fans are.
We get to a point where we're so blessed because of our success we become analytical. I think basketball is so fragile that you really have to have that opportunity. If you're winning every game and five guys leave, no issue. But I don't think we're that environment. I think our fans appreciate a connectivity."
