Ohio State basketball is on a roll. The Buckeyes have won six of their last seven games and are now pegged as the No. 7 team in the country. As such, Chris Holtmann's squad is considered a virtual lock to be in the 2021 Big Dance, which, for the first time in history, will be played entirely in the state of Indiana.
#MarchMadness Scheduling Update!
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) January 19, 2021
March 18 - First Four
March 19/20 - First Round
March 21/22 - Second Round
March 27/28 - Sweet 16
March 29/30 - Elite 8
April 3 - Final Four
April 5 - National Championship
https://t.co/faeZsTVieb pic.twitter.com/0grpnEwAn4
While we won't officially know the Buckeyes' matchup until Selection Sunday on March 14, we can look at projections made by experts in the field of bracketology to look ahead and analyze some potential matchups for Ohio State.
ESPN: 2 seed, vs. Louisiana
Noted bracket guy Joe Lunardi of ESPN has the Buckeyes as the last No. 2 seed (No. 8 overall team), meaning they would play 15th-seeded Louisiana.
Louisiana, led by 11th-year head coach Bob Marlin, is currently 7-3 in the Sun Belt and 13-4 overall. Notably, the Ragin' Cajuns – ranked No. 169 nationally, per KenPom – have only played one high-major opponent in Baylor and got smashed, losing 112-82. They are a 15 seed for a reason and, at least in theory, shouldn't give the Buckeyes a lot of trouble.
A second-round game for the Buckeyes would be against the winner of USC and Loyola Chicago, and if they reach they Sweet 16, they'd play Tennessee, Virginia Teach, Indiana or Grand Canyon with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 2, 2021
CBS Sports: 3 seed, vs. East Tennessee State
CBS Sports is not as high on the Buckeyes right now as Lunardi is, as Jerry Palm has the Buckeyes pegged as a 3-seed, playing at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis against East Tennessee State. The Buccaneers are 10-5 overall and 6-1 in the Southern Conference.
If Ohio State were to get past ETSU, Palm has them playing the winner of what should be a good UCLA-LSU game. The two times Chris Holtmann faced Mick Cronin: the season opener in 2019, which the Buckeyes won against Cronin's Bearcats in Columbus, and the CBS Sports Classic against UCLA in Cleveland this year, which the Buckeyes also won.
New bracket. Kansas slide more of a crawl. https://t.co/5e6tdF5bn8
— Jerry Palm (@jppalmCBS) February 1, 2021
SB Nation: 2 seed, vs. Louisiana
SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean is very high on the Buckeyes, putting them as a No. 2 seed and taking on Louisiana of the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana, as previously mentioned, is 13-4 overall but lost three of their first four conference games.
If the Buckeyes were able to take care of business against Louisiana, Dobbertean has them moving on to a matchup with the winner of USC and LSU, two teams we have already mentioned.
The first @sbnation bracket of February features Ohio State as a two seed and a two-bid Valley. What other surprises are in store? Youll have to click to find out. https://t.co/fZcYUCrNhl pic.twitter.com/J4VWStAzum
— Chris Dobbertean (@ChrisDobbertean) February 2, 2021
USA TODAY: 4 seed, vs. Winthrop
Shelby Mast, the official bracketologist for USA TODAY, is the lowest on the Buckeyes, having them as a No. 4 seed against potential Big South champion Winthrop, who is 16-1 on the year to this date.
While it is worth noting that Mast has the Buckeyes as the top No. 4 seed, no other pundits have the Buckeyes this low, and as the No. 7 team in the AP Poll this week, the Buckeyes would likely be higher than a four seed if the tournament were starting today.
In Mast's bracket, if Ohio State were to beat Winthrop, they would play the winner of a matchup between UCLA and Belmont.
There are still about six weeks to go until Selection Sunday, but if you told Ohio State fans at the beginning of the year that their team is being discussed as a two or three seed at the beginning of February, I'm sure that would go over pretty well.
A big matchup with No. 8 Iowa awaits this Thursday in Iowa City. The result of that game will go a long way toward determining where the Buckeyes are seeded in March.
