After a 4-0 week total for Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball, both teams are on the rise in NCAA Tournament projections with just a couple weeks before the Big Ten tournaments begin.
Here are some of those projections for each team through 25 of their respective games.
Men’s Basketball (17-8, 7-7 Big Ten)
Kerry Miller, Bleacher Report — 5 seed vs. Yale
Scott Gleeson and Shelby Mast, USA Today — 6 seed vs. East Tennessee State
Joe Lunardi, ESPN — 6 seed vs. Arizona State
Dave Ommen, NBC Sports — 6 seed vs. Virginia
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports — 6 seed vs. Utah State
After two big wins against Rutgers and Purdue, the Buckeyes have moved into a more secure place In the NCAA Tournament, ranking as a No. 6 seed in four of the five projections.
Interestingly, Miller, who had Ohio State’s lowest projection last week as an No. 8 seed, now has the Buckeyes the highest at No. 5.
Of all the matchups the Buckeyes would potentially have to face, Ommen’s prediction is the one that stands out. An opening round battle with the defense-heavy Cavaliers fresh off a title run would be one of the tougher drawings imaginable.
With wins by the favorites in the first round, two of the projections have Ohio State against Seton Hall in the Round of 32, two have Creighton, and Miller has the Buckeyes against Auburn.
In the advanced metrics, Ohio State continues to impress, ranking No. 9 in KenPom, No. 11 in BPI, No. 18 in the NET, but all the way back at No. 38 in RPI.
Women’s Basketball (16-9, 9-5 Big Ten)
College Sports Madness — 6 seed vs. Duke
Real Time RPI — 6 seed vs. Drake
Charlie Creme, ESPN — 7 seed vs. Arizona State
Russell Steinberg, High Post Hoops — 10 seed vs. TCU
The Buckeyes made significant jumps in two of the four projections here, while Real Time RPI and High Post Hoops kept the Buckeyes steady from a week prior.
Steinberg, though, has not updated his rankings since Feb. 12, which does not include either of Ohio State’s major victories, which were a 23-point win over Minnesota and a four-point win on the road over then-No. 20 Indiana.
College Sports Madness and Creme were impressed with the victories, and moved up the Buckeyes four and three spots, respectively.
The Buckeyes now have two wins against Top 25 teams (No. 5 Louisville and No. 24 Indiana), while having a 2-6 record overall against the Associated Press Top 25 with losses to No. 4 Stanford, No. 6 UConn, No. 7 Maryland (twice), No. 19 Iowa and No. 20 South Dakota.
Mitchell Northam of NCAA.com has not updated his projections since last week’s look, when he had Ohio State missing the NCAA tournament entirely.
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