Does Ohio Have a Chance in Hell?

I am thrilled to death that after a ten-year absence, my alma mater is going back to the NCAA tournament. However they didn’t catch a very good break with their seeding. Ohio will be taking on Florida, a team which has been on a tear the past eight days. The Gators beat Kentucky last week to end the regular season and then blew everyone out in the SEC tournament, including another win over Kentucky yesterday. Florida pounded Kentucky to win the SEC Tournament and in return wound up seeded fourth yesterday opposite the Bobcats who picked up a 13 seed.

Looking at the two teams I don’t have one of those positive feelings for Ohio in the pit of my stomach so I may have to do a little research. There isn’t a whole lot of cross-referencing with these two teams. Ohio lost to Florida International by one point, who lost to Miami (FL) who Florida later lost to as well. Easy enough: Ohio 71, Florida 63. Probably not a very valid point. What else? In three of the last five tournaments a 13 seed has upset a four seed, including a MAC team when Kent State defeated Indiana in 2001. Speaking of the MAC, it’s hard to bet against their teams in the first round. Over the past ten years, a MAC team has won it’s first-round game seven times since the 1995 NCAA tournament. Ohio is still a little different than those teams though.

Ohio wasn’t nearly as consistent as the 1999 Miami team, the 2002 Kent team or the 2003 Central Michigan team. The Bobcats never even saw the likes of the Top 25 all season and they won their conference tournament on a buzzer-beating tip-in--hardly a dominant performance. Yet they are in and they have a coach who has been there who can prepare them. Tim O’Shea was the Associate Head Coach at Boston College in 2001 when the Eagles were seeded number three in the tournament. His experience in the tournament will be the most helpful variable the Bobcats own if they will have a chance in hell of winning this game against Florida.