Ohio State is the Big Ten’s Only Chance for a Championship

Published: 24^th Mar 12 10:24 pm

by Stephanie Umek
Stephanie Umek

RANT It!

Ohio State is the Big Ten’s Only Chance for a Championship

Michael Ivins-US PRESSWIRE

Well after a pretty brutal beating over the last few days, the Big Ten has been narrowed down to one team: Ohio State.

With a win over Syracuse, the Buckeyes will be traveling to New Orleans for their Final Four appearance. Originally the Big Ten had six teams in the tournament this year. However after loses from Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen, Ohio has to hold on in order to lead the Big Ten to a victory.

Jared Sullinger has been the power behind the team all season, and to think he wouldn’t play a big role tonight would be insane, though he would have fooled you in the first half. After he was able to gather his thoughts, he was able to score 19 points and snatch seven rebounds.

Syracuse by far has been one of the favorite teams in the tournament this season, however the Buckeyes wanted to be sure they gave their seasons as much experience as possible. To help with that Deshaun Thomas added 14 points to Sullinger’s and he grabbed nine rebounds.

It wasn’t just a game though that was going to be handed away on a silver platter. The Orange were led by Brandon Triche with 15 points and Baye Keita with 10 rebounds. The whole team was forced to step up without their leading rebounder Fab Melo, how missed the tournament due to academic issues.

Syracuse was able to cut an eight point lead down to three with just seconds to go, but the Buckeyes were able to pull of the win, showing that they wanted it just a little bit more than the Orange.

With the 77-70 win the Ohio State Buckeyes will be facing the winner of the North Carolina-Kansas game being played tomorrow at 5:05 P.M. ET.

Connect with Rant Sports