Ohio State coach Thad Matta sometimes needs to be reminded what day of the week it is. As the head coach of a major college basketball program, Matta, like many others around the country, is so wrapped up in everything that is going on within his program he occasionally loses track of the simplest things.
But on Monday, the day before his team hosts Michigan in a marquee Big Ten matchup for both schools, Matta made it clear he was well-aware of what lies ahead for the Buckeyes. He knew exactly what point it is in Ohio State's season.
“You’re getting into late February now,” he said. “Obviously all games are vitally important, but I think if you look just where they are, where we are, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that there are some implications to this game.”
Both the Buckeyes and Wolverines find themselves near the middle of the Big Ten standings on the eve of Tuesday’s showdown at Value City Arena. Michigan is 9-4 in conference play, while Ohio State sits at 8-5. Neither team is in contention for a league title, but with only five regular-season games remaining there’s still some jockeying for positioning going on in the middle of the Big Ten standings.
There are some NCAA tournament implications, as well.
Fresh off a crucial victory Saturday against Purdue, Michigan, for now, is in the NCAA tournament. Ohio State, on the other hand, is on the outside looking in with a ton of work left to do, but the first step to the Buckeyes getting back on the NCAA tournament bubble — there are quite a few — is beating Michigan.
“It’s big,” Ohio State sophomore forward Jae’Sean Tate said of Tuesday's game. “I think Michigan is sitting at 9-4 and we’re 8-5. With this win I think we could jump a few spots and keep the momentum going into Nebraska and Iowa and Michigan State.”
But in order for the Buckeyes to even take that first step, they have to do something they haven’t all year: beat a team ahead of them in the Big Ten standings.
Ohio State’s 8-5 conference record is somewhat skewed because, when it breaks down, the Buckeyes are 8-0 in league games against teams currently below them in the Big Ten standings and 0-5 against teams ahead of them.
The first two of those losses weren’t close as Ohio State was blasted on the road against Indiana (85-60) and Maryland (100-65). Since those games, though, the Buckeyes have been much more competitive against the Big Ten’s top teams even if they’ve come up on the losing side in all three. In losses at Purdue and at Wisconsin, and at home against Maryland, Ohio State found itself in a one-possession game all three times at the final media timeout.
So it begs the question: Is there any rhyme or reason as to why Ohio State wins all of the Big Ten games it is supposed to, but can’t find a way to get the job done in ones it is not favored to win?
“I don’t think it really has to do with the teams being top ranked; I don’t think we really pay attention to that,” Tate said. “Of course we know that the opponents we’re facing are key but I just think it’s a lack of being together or not being together; just a lack of focus when it comes down to the wire.
“I feel that we’re getting better, we’ve gotten so much better from the beginning of the season, but we’ve still got to work on finishing games.”
The only reason you can’t write Ohio State off from the NCAA tournament just yet is because of the opportunities at the end of the Buckeyes’ schedule. Four of Ohio State’s remaining games in the regular-season are all RPI top-50 squads and a few wins certainly make things more interesting than they are now.
The first of those opportunities comes Tuesday night.
“I don’t know if I have anything that I can guarantee that we’re going to play extremely well, but I’ve challenged these guys mentally to get themselves ready to play,” Matta said. “We’re winding it down and now is when you play your best basketball, now is when we as a group play our best basketball.”
