The Roundtable: Can The Bucks Win It All?

Written by Tony Lastoria

It's Selection Sunday. FINALLY. And our Ohio State Buckeyes will be a #1 seed when the brackets are revealed later this afternoon. But can they win the whole freaking thing? This was the question we posed to our roundtable of experts here at The Cleveland Fan. The responses were all over the board, but all were well thought out and accompanied by sound reasoning. Join us in our College Sports message forum to talk tourney and talk Buckeyes.
"The Roundtable" is a regular weekly Sunday feature that will continue throughout the year covering hot topics surrounding the Browns, Buckeyes, Cavaliers, and Indians. One question. Several different answers from TheClevelandFan.com panel.

Today is Selection Sunday, and for many bubble teams across the nation they will find out their fate on whether they are in or out of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Fortunately for Buckeye fans, there is no such drama as the Buckeyes are already in, and the only real question mark is what region they will be a #1 seed in.

The Buckeyes square off in the Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship game against Wisconsin at 3:30 pm today. It will be the third meeting between the two schools this year, with the two teams splitting the first two games and each holding serve on their home court. Both games were very entertaining contests as the two games were decided by a total of four points.

Today's game will be the final game before the Buckeyes enter the land of 65 and try to win six games to become NCAA Men's Basketball Champions. The Buckeyes will be a high seed and a heavy favorite by most to make it to the Final Four, but can the Buckeyes win it all? TheClevelandFan.com staff opines:

Cris Sykes: Of course the Ohio State Buckeyes can win the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Any team with a great center, quality guard play and a good coach can win the whole thing. Unfortunately, I do not think they will win it all.

The biggest obstacle would seem to be their unwillingness to get the ball into that great center and have the offense go through Greg Oden. They are way to willing to bring the ball up the floor, make a couple of passes around the perimeter and launch the first open three they get offered. One cold night can end an otherwise great run to a National Championship.

The other point is, I do not know how good this team really is. Sure they played North Carolina tough in their gym, but where blown out by the only other top tier, non-Big 10 team they played. Overall, the Big 10 is extremely weak, when compared to the other big conferences in the country. Will the fact that they have an over-inflated view of their own worth cost them when playing a middle of the road team from the ACC? Will they continue to play down to the level of their opponents, like they have against some of the also-rans of the Big 10?

So, here is my prediction for the Buckeyes in the Big Dance. Getting upset in the Sweet 16 by a hot shooting team that finds a way to get Oden in early foul trouble. Sorry, Buckeye fans!

Todd Dery: Can the Buckeyes win it all? Sure they can. Will they? No. Here is why:

1. The Big Ten - The conference was as weak as it has ever been. Since January 1st, the competition, other than an overrated Wisconsin club, has been inferior. The Buckeyes have been in close games, but playing teams like Penn State, Michigan State (who are a one man team), and Purdue extremely tight is telling. The Big Ten Tournament wont help them either - they wont meet a decent opponent until the finals.

2. Non-Conference Games - Yes, Ohio State had Florida and North Carolina on their schedule on the road. The Florida game was non-competitive and UNC outclassed them without Greg Oden. Their only "marquee win" came over an average Tennessee team in which they needed a Ron Lewis three with three seconds left to pull it off. Tennessee didn't win a road game until February 24th. What happens when they meet a stiffling defensive team like a Creighton or a high scoring team like Oregon in round two? Will they be ready?

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