Legit shot at final 4?

[BrutusBobcat]

Stating the obvious, but getting to the Final Four is a whole lot easier as a 1 or 2 seed. It's not as If this team has to fight through a bracket just for a shot at the Great 8.

From the 2 seed, you're looking at a 2-15 first round game, and then the winner of the 7-10 game. To say that this team "has a shot at the S16" is kind of silly...sorry. You're talking a win over a 15 and at worst, a seven seed at a neutral site. Now, once you're there, all the teams from S16 on up are going to be good, and pretty much all of them have a shot.

I like this team to make the Great 8, and at that point it depends on matchup and everyone having a big night. Get Kansas, and maybe not. Without seeing the brackets, it's hard to say. When you look at the wins and performances against teams that spent a lot of time in the top 10/top 15 -- on the road in West Laf, on the road at Breslin, on the road in Morgantown, at Butler without Turner -- there's a lot to like. Those are the kinds of teams you meet in S16 games, and on a neutral floor, I think OSU wins.

 

[BigJim]

I just cannot understand this talk about "at least a legit shot at the Sweet Sixteen"?! This team is among the elite in college basketball right now.. They have experience and 4 guys who are capable of scoring.. They ABSOLUTELY have a shot at the Final Four!!

I agree, it's really odd to me, especially on an OSU site. From those that don't think it to be the case, I'd like to hear a list of the teams that do have a legit shot this year.

How many teams have a legit shot to make the final four most years? I would say maybe 10-12? In the last 10 years, the final four has had:

1 seed: 17
2 seed: 9
3 seed: 6
4 seed: 2
5 seed: 3
8 seed: 2
11 seed: 1

 

[NFBuck]

If this team went 8 deep, I'd be thinking possible NC. Our starting five is as good as any in the country, but like previously stated, officiating plays a huge role in the tourney. Not to mention playing good teams possibly wearing the starters down a little. There's other issues with the lack of depth. What if Diebs hits a cold streak? God forbid an injury. Of course, when you have as good a starting five as we have, anything is possible. ET could go supernova and just carry them right to the title game like Manning or Melo did. The bench issue just leaves a lot less room for error.

When you look at the attrition the past three years with all the one and dones and transfers, it really is amazing what Matta has done.

 

[Meyer]

The thing is, the bench or lack thereof hasn't really affected us this year. I guess you could argue that against WVU, but we've been able to play our style of game with no problems and actually play better in the second half of games.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I think we have as legit a shot as any of the "second tier" schools ie schools not named Kansas, UK or Syracuse.

We could get some good matchups, stay out of foul trouble and have ET do his best Danny Manning impersonation. If so its Final Four time.

We could just as easily run into a team with a deep front court that can press, refs calling a tight game and a bad shooting night. If so we could go out in the second round.

I think the odds are we come much closer to the former than the latter.

Its going to take some luck but that's always a part of it. We do have the best player in America and all things being equal that's a good thing to have going for you.