For years, the Ohio State basketball program has kept its in-state brethren within arm’s length of playing during the regular season. Reasons aren’t fully known, but many believe it’s because the Buckeyes have nothing to gain by playing the likes of Cincinnati, Dayton, or Xavier — three other programs in the state that could take away the mantle of being the so-called best hoops program in the Buckeye state.
We’ve seen OSU play that trio before, but more often than not, it’s been because it was forced to through special events or postseason tournament play. It seemed like a far-fetched idea that Ohio State would enter into any kind of agreement to play on another in-state basketball school as a part of a nonconference, regular-season game willingly.
Until now.
Though further details are still to materialize, NCAA basketball insider Jon Rothsten has announced that Ohio State and Dayton have agreed to a home-and-home series beginning this year, with the first game being at UD Arena in Dayton.
There has not been an announcement by the Ohio State or Dayton athletic programs as of yet, but Rothsten is usually on point with these sorts of things, so expect something to be made official from the universities soon with a real, live date and time.
Crazy enough, the Flyers and Buckeyes have only met twice, with the last meeting being a classic in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. That contest was won by the Flyers on a layup with under four seconds remaining to end OSU’s postseason run. The win also evened up the all-time series at one victory each. OSU won the only other matchup 74-63 in an NIT quarterfinal in 2008.
I’m all about this sort of scheduling and think it is long overdue. In fact, while we are on it, why don’t we start a little Buckeye state annual event with all four of these programs doing battle? How fun could that be? We’ll have more details as they are made available.
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