The Buckeyes had the opportunity to host first and second round games by earning the second seed in the NCAA Tournament, putting Ohio State among the top 16 teams in the bracket.
Ohio State will host No. 15 seed Maine in the first round Friday at noon at Value City Arena. The match will be televised on ESPN.
“I’m really happy to be playing at home,” Ohio State women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff said Sunday night. “I mean, that would always be the case, especially this year when we drew so well. So I hope our fans come out and support this first game like they have all season. I think this could be really important for us.
If the Buckeyes advance, they will host another game between No. 7 Duke or No. 10 Richmond in the second round on Sunday or Monday — setting up a possible matchup between Celeste Taylor, who transferred from Duke to Ohio State last offseason, and his former team.
“It’s obviously pretty cool to (potentially) face a school that I graduated from and played at for two years, but obviously we still have to make it past the first round, and so do they,” Taylor said. “So I’m really focused on winning over Maine and getting into this game.”
If Ohio State advances to the Sweet 16, it will travel to Portland, Oregon, where the Buckeyes could face No. 3 seed UConn in the Sweet 16 – who the Buckeyes beat in the last year’s NCAA tournament – for the second year in a row. Other potential Sweet 16 opponents include No. 6 Syracuse, No. 11 Auburn/Arizona and No. 14 Jackson State.
USC is the No. 1 seed in the Portland Region 3, setting up a potential rematch of Ohio State’s season opener, which the Buckeyes lost 83-74. Virginia Tech, which beat Ohio State in the Elite Eight last year, is the No. 4 seed in the region, which also includes Baylor as a No. 5 seed, Kansas as a top seed No. 8 and Michigan as the No. 9 seed. .
The Buckeyes earned second place thanks to their 25-5 record this season, including a 16-2 conference record, with which the Buckeyes won the regular season Big Ten championship. Ohio State was in position to be a No. 1 seed until losing its final two games – its regular-season finale to Iowa and a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal against Maryland – but the Buckeyes’ overall work was enough to keep them going. the first two seed lines.
This is the first time since 2010 that Ohio State has been a top-two seed in the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes were upset in the second round by No. 7 seed Mississippi State as the No. 2 seed that year.
After reaching the Elite Eight as a No. 3 seed last year, Ohio State is aiming for its first Final Four appearance since 1993. If the Buckeyes can reach that point, they will have the opportunity to play until ‘to four home games. state, as this year’s Women’s Final Four is being played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
