SWEET 16 – WEST REGION MATCHUP
#6 ARIZONA WILDCATS VS #2 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (-3.5)
This sweet sixteen west semifinal is scheduled to tip-off at 7:47 EST in Los Angeles. Both teams enter looking to extend their tournament lives but ultimately someone is going home. For me it’s as clear as gasoline floating on water for who that is, the school that had the easier road and is yet to face an actual contender, Arizona.
The Wildcats in my eyes had the easiest road to the sweet sixteen out of everyone in the tournament. Knocking off #11 Belmont and #14 Harvard isn’t exactly something this team should pat themselves on the back for. They cleaned up where New Mexico dropped the ball and now in the round of sixteen they face their first real opponent in Ohio State.
Ohio State entered this tournament winning the Big Ten conference , which in my opinion is the best conference in all of college basketball. That should be seen from the four schools in the Big Ten (Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan) who are in still in the tournament. Now initially when I saw this matchup I stringed together this analogy; Arizona played conference rivals UCLA three times this year, losing every single time. UCLA faced Big Ten school Minnesota in round one of the tournament and were embarrassed as a lower seed losing by 20 points. While that same Minnesota team lost against Ohio State in late February by 26 points. Leading me to believe that this game should be a walk in the park for Ohio State and their fan’s alike on thursday.
I fully expect the Buckeyes to control the tempo of this game and force Arizona to play Ohio State and Big Ten basketball. Don’t get me wrong, the Wildcats faced some great basketball teams in the PAC-12 conference this year but there is no team comparable to Ohio State. The Buckeyes will beat you on the defensive end of the floor, while putting up points almost every single time they possess the ball offensively. If Arizona has a shot at winning this game they will have to take care of the ball and play great perimeter defense. Two area’s that they have struggled in this season, and something I fully expect Ohio State to expose. The Buckeyes are extremely talented at spotting the open man to sink the three and have hurt teams all season long when they turn the ball over.
Aaron Craft is the leader on both ends of the court for Ohio State. That should have been seen with his game winning three-pointer against Iowa State. He will be the player to watch in this game, and I fully expect he has what it takes to lead the Buckeyes all the way to the final four. For you persistent Arizona believers, don’t overlook the fact Ohio State is riding a ten game win streak into this game and are a combined 6-1 ATS in march. While the Wildcats are a miserable 2-4 against top 25 teams this season, and based on power ratings the line for this matchup should have been set at -6 for Ohio State, not the generous -3.5 oddsmakers have listed.
FINAL SCORE – ARIZONA 58 – OHIO STATE 67