2/6/13: Ohio state - Little sister of the rich?

    I seem to be the lone person on the bracket matrix that doesn't have Ohio State on the 3-4 seed line. In my next update they'll be a 5 or 6, but I don't think they deserve to be any higher right now. It seems they are benefiting from some BCS bias. Their accomplishments this season don't warrant being placed in the top 10-15 teams in the country. Let's compare the resumes of the team currently above and below OSU on the matrix, Louisville and Michigan State (I'll use the RPI as my metric in this case).

Ohio State:
2-5 vs RPI top 50
6-5 vs top 100
3-4 away games
5-4 in away/neutral combined
Wins vs teams under consideration: Washington-N, Michigan, Wisconsin
Losses: @Duke, Kansas, @Illinois, @Michigan State, @Michigan

Louisville:
6-3 vs RPI top 50
8-4 vs top 100
4-2 away
7-3 away/neutral
Wins vs teams under consideration: Mizzou-N, @Memphis, Kentucky, @UConn, Pitt, Marquette
Losses: @Georgetown, Syracuse, @Nova, Duke-N

Michigan St:
4-4 vs RPI top 50
7-4 vs top 100
4-3 away
5-4 away/neutral
Wins vs team under consideration: Kansas-N, Boise St, Illinios, @Wisconsin
Losses: UConn-N, @Miami, @Minnesota, @Indiana

The bottom line: The Buckeyes don't compare to others on the 3 or 4 line in terms of record against top teams, road/neutral wins, or out of conference wins. They have one great win against Michigan at home and a decent win at home against Wisconsin, but that's it. While they impressed me last night for 35+ minutes in Ann Arbor, the end result is they couldn't get it done. The selection committee has consistently stressed that teams need to accomplish something away from home and/or out of conference. Those just aren't there for the Buckeyes. What's even more problematic is that they have just two opportunities for key road wins the rest of the season: at Wisconsin on February 17th and at Indiana on March 5th. They'll need to grab at least one of those two or make a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament to move up higher than they're currently seeded.

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