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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Thad Matta said after Ohio State basketball was bounced from the Big Ten Tournament by Rutgers that he wasn"t sure if the Buckeyes would accept a bid to the National Invitation Tournament.
Turns out he didn"t need to make a decision.
The Buckeyes were not invited to take part in the NIT this year after finishing 17-15.
Asked which two teams were on the outside of the 32-team field, NIT chairman Reggie Minton listed Ohio State and UNC-Asheville.
"Both of those teams were tough decisions for us," Minton said on ESPNU. "They were worthy, but when we matched them up against the other resumes, we just felt they came a little short."
Minton added that no teams turned down an NIT invitation this year.
An OSU spokesperson told cleveland.com that Ohio State would have accepted a bid had the Buckeyes been invited.
Ohio State signed a non-binding agreement in January to take part in the NIT if invited,according to Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch. Under that agreement, Ohio State could still reject an NIT bid if invited, but cannot play in other postseason tournaments such as the CIT or the CBI. A team that signs a non-binding NIT agreement can still play in the NCAA Tournament if selected.
So Ohio State"s season will end at 17-15 with no postseason play. The Buckeyes went 2-5 in their last seven games.
The last time Ohio State didn"t participate in a postseason tournament was 2004-05, its first season under Matta when it wasn"t eligible for postseason play.
How did Ohio State end up here?
The Buckeyes were 15-10 after a win against Rutgers on Feb. 8. That wasn"t a great mark, but Ohio State still had chances left to play its way into the NCAA Tournament if it could pick up some solid road wins.
Instead the Buckeyes lost three straight from that point, playing tough but still failing to pull out wins at Maryland and Michigan State (both tournament teams). Then they blew a lead late and lost at home to Nebraska, 58-57, on Feb. 18. That loss put the Buckeyes in a position where their only shot of avoiding the NIT was to win the Big Ten Tournament.
Ohio State opened Big Ten Tournament play with a 66-57 loss to Rutgers, the lowest seed in the bracket. That was probably the game that knocked the Buckeyes out of the NIT.
The Buckeyes" fate was really sealed before any of that happened, though, because they again struggled in most opportunities to get big wins. Ohio Stats was 3-8 against teams in the top 50 of the RPI, and also had three losses against teams outside of the top 100 (Nebraska, Rutgers, Florida Atlantic).
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/osu/2017/03/ohio_state_basketball_nit_sele.html
