By now everyone knows it, and everyone not from the best state in the union (look it up) is most likely a bit sick of hearing about it. But the fact remains, a full one quarter of the Sweet Sixteen are Ohio teams! Some were expected to be here, some are not huge surprises. And some are #13 seeds that beat Michigan. Either way, it's all sweet.
It's a damn shame that Cleveland State, Dayton, or Akron couldn't have joined this party. But nonetheless it's a good time to be from Ohio. And from the Big Ten, too. The Big Ten makes up a quarter of the field remaining as well.
To be honest, the field looks as good as can be hoped for some of the teams. Sure, OU could end up looking like a collection of dwarves fighting Andre the Giant in North Carolina, but with UNC starting point guard Kendall Marshall suffering a broken wrist, "..So you're saying there's a chance!" (200 to 1 odds to win the tournament, I hear. That seems a bit low to me...) And the Cincinnati/Ohio State winner will have a good look at the Final Four, facing either Wisconsin or a weakened Syracuse team in the round of 8. Xavier, on the other hand, has to get through Baylor just to get a look at Kentucky. (If, of course, Kentucky doesn't lose again to Indiana.)
Great quote from Mark Titus, famous Ohio State blogging basketball legend and of course, @ClubTrillion on Twitter. He wrote on Grantland, as part of his twenty NCAA observations...
Love it. The dream still lives for an all Big Ten or Ohio Final Four.But that means the Bobcats need to do some work.7. The Big Ten is 9-2 and the state of Ohio is 8-0
As a proud alum of the only Big Ten school located in Ohio, let me just take a second to politely say, "Suck it, every other state and conference."