The tournament field is set.
Ohio State didn't have to sweat whether it would hear its name called on Selection Sunday, but now its NCAA Tournament draw is officially set as the Buckeyes earned a No. 2 seed and will play No. 15 seed Oral Roberts.
Ohio State's first-round game against Oral Roberts will tip-off at 3 p.m. at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, and will be televised on CBS.
The tournament draw puts Ohio State as the No. 2 seed in the South Region along with No. 1 seed Baylor and would match the Buckeyes up with the winner of Friday's game between No. 7 seed Florida and No. 10 seed Virginia Tech, who will play at 12:15 p.m. Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The South Region! #SelectionSunday | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/fHR4Gf61jU
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 14, 2021
The No. 2 seed is the highest seed Ohio State has earned in the NCAA Tournament since the Buckeyes earned a No. 2 seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Ten Tournament title.
Ohio State was ranked by the selection committee as the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament behind Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois, Michigan and the top No. 2 seed, Alabama.
The NCAA's official seed list: pic.twitter.com/pphMTSCGPu
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 14, 2021
Ohio State enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 7 team in the KenPom ratings with the No. 4 adjusted offense – behind only Gonzaga, Iowa and Baylor – but ranked just No. 79 in adjusted defense.
The Buckeyes are one of four Big Ten teams that earned No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, with Michigan and Illinois earning No. 1 seeds and Iowa also earning a No. 2 seed. Nine total Big Ten teams made this year's NCAA Tournament; no other conference has more than seven teams in the field.
