2025-2026 B1G Basketball Thread

[betarhoalphadelta]

Did they just show Kirk Ferentz at the OSU game?

Either that, or his doppelganger.

LOL I noticed that...

I think it was someone significantly younger than Kirk, but could see the resemblance. 

[medinabuckeye1]

LOL I noticed that...

I think it was someone significantly younger than Kirk, but could see the resemblance.

Missed it, but then I'm watching on my phone on YouTube with stupid timers partially obscuring.  

[medinabuckeye1]

Bucks down 1 but shooting 2 FT's just over 2 minutes.  

[MaximumSam]

Long deep sigh

[CatsbyAZ]

Hold your head high Buckeyes. Still a worthwhile season getting back on track by making the Tournament. I was at first a doubter of the Buckeyes hiring Jake Diebler but his coaching was strong down the stretch of this regular season. Next step: to start contending toward the top of the Big Ten and advancing further in the Tournament the Buckeyes will need upgraded talent across the roster.

Thank You Bruce Thornton!

[Brutus Buckeye]

It looks like Nebraska might sneak past Troy. 

[bayareabadger]

TCU offense was so clunky. But OSU just couldn’t shake loose. 

Badgers just looking not good enough on D, not special on O. Gotta fix all of that. 

[ELA]

Took Nebraska in my survival pool today, thanks for making that very stress free!

[ELA]

Hold your head high Buckeyes. Still a worthwhile season getting back on track by making the Tournament. I was at first a doubter of the Buckeyes hiring Jake Diebler but his coaching was strong down the stretch of this regular season. Next step: to start contending toward the top of the Big Ten and advancing further in the Tournament the Buckeyes will need upgraded talent across the roster.

Thank You Bruce Thornton!

No shame in being the 2nd best team in the state 

[medinabuckeye1]

Hold your head high Buckeyes. Still a worthwhile season getting back on track by making the Tournament. I was at first a doubter of the Buckeyes hiring Jake Diebler but his coaching was strong down the stretch of this regular season. Next step: to start contending toward the top of the Big Ten and advancing further in the Tournament the Buckeyes will need upgraded talent across the roster.

Thank You Bruce Thornton!

This is how we need to look at it.  

I also feel like this team was just a little bit snakebit.  They definitely had some close wins but I think they had a lot more close losses that make this such a woulda/coulda/shoulda. 

• The Pitt loss (their only non-Q1 loss) was on a half-court heave at the buzzer.  
• They lost to #6 seed UNC on a neutral court by a single point.  
• They lost to #4 seed Nebraska by three.  
• On a neutral court they were tied with #3 seed UVA with 5 minutes remaining but only scored 2 freaking points in the nine-and-a-half minutes between taking a 6 point lead at 10 to go and hitting a 3 to close within 2 with 30 seconds to go.  
• They were back-and-forth for the first 32 minutes at #3 seed MSU before falling down by 10 then putting together a furious charge in the last 90 seconds that actually got within 3 at one point.  
• They were close the whole way on a neutral court with #1 seed Michigan in the BTT and actually had a lead at about 4-5 minutes to go, only losing by 4.  It always sucks to lose to your rival but if you take the name away a 4 point neutral-court loss to a #1 seed is nothing to be ashamed of.  
• Finally in their lone NCAAT game they just dug too big of a hole in the first half but what a monster comeback.  After being down 15 at the half they held leads late and at the buzzer they had a shot in the air that would have won it.  

I really hope that Thornton is remembered as fondly by Ohio State fans as he should be.  I'm afraid that he will not be because his teams didn't do squat but it wasn't his fault that the overall situation was what it was.  Holtmann's last two years were just atrocious (16-19/5-15 and 20-13/9-11) but Thornton was a big part of the late charge in 23/24 after Holtmann was let go that almost got them to the Tournament.  Thornton obviously wasn't the one who directed tOSU's NIL going into the 24/25 season and that was a catastrophe.  The Bucks spent big (I assume) on overrated 5* that didn't contribute at anywhere close the the level that (I assume) Ohio State paid so they ended up just short once again (17-15/9-11).  Finally, while this team eventually developed into a pretty solid overall team in their late charge this year, there was a long stretch of the season where @MaximumSam 's "Thornton and the Rando's" was a very appropriate moniker.   

In any previous era I'd be eager to see how particularly Royal, Bynum, and Mobley continue to develop.  Those three will be a Sr, SO, and JR next year and could form the core of a really strong unit along with Cupps (JR next year) and Chatman (JR next year).  Obviously in the modern Portal/NIL era I don't have any idea if any let alone all of them will return and even if they do, we need a pretty serious across-the-board talent upgrade if we are going to compete at the top of the B1G.  

[medinabuckeye1]

No shame in being the 2nd best team in the state

Behind Akron?  I mean, Akron is the next highest in NET, KenPom, and Torvik so if you are calling the #1 in Ohio on all three of those #2 . . .

[betarhoalphadelta]

Exciting one in Portland...

[MaximumSam]

Wiscy High Point not lacking offense

[MaximumSam]

Man 30 win teams...