Ohio State women’s basketball is returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four seasons and has earned a No. 6 seed, set to play either No. 11 Missouri State or No. 11 Florida State in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the first round.
The Seminoles finished the season with a 17-13 record, falling to NC State in the ACC Tournament. The Bears, meanwhile, finished 27-4, falling to UNI in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The winner of Ohio State and Missouri State/Florida State would go on to face either No. 3 LSU or No. 14 Jackson State. Elsewhere in the Spokane region, Stanford earned the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Texas and LSU. Maryland is also in the region, having earned the No. 4 seed.
Outside of Stanford, the other one seeds are Louisville, NC State and South Carolina.
Ohio State is one of six Big Ten teams to make the tournament, including No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Indiana, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Maryland and No. 8 Nebraska. Northwestern came close to a tournament berth but was considered one of the final teams out of the bracket.
The Buckeyes finished the regular season with a 22-5 record to earn a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship with Iowa. Ohio State then went 1-1 in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, falling as the No. 1 seed to No. 5 Indiana, 70-62.
This is the 26th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for Ohio State, and the fifth for head coach Kevin McGuff in his ninth season with the Buckeyes. Ohio State likely would have qualified for the tournament in 2020 before it was canceled due to the pandemic, and the Buckeyes had a self-imposed postseason ban last year but were likely on pace to make the tournament had they not been held out.
Missouri State and Florida State will play in the First Four on Thursday, and the winner will go on to face Ohio State on Saturday.
