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Congratulations are in order for the University of Texas at San Antonio. They won the play-in game Wednesday night and get to play Ohio State on Friday. In that game, the Roadrunners will lose and it probably won't be close. As everyone should be aware at this point, no 16 seed has ever beaten a 1 seed. Since we already know the result of this game, this preview will be short.
Some crazy people might say, "The Buckeyes are at a disadvantage because they didn't know who their first round opponent was until Wednesday night. The other teams in the tournament have had since Sunday to start scouting their opponent." I doubt anyone would ever say (or even think this), because Ohio State doesn't really need to spend much time worrying about UTSA. If Thad Matta can keep his team playing anywhere near the level they have been playing all season, this will be a blowout.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes have been the most dominant team in college basketball this year. They play good defense, they have a dominant post player, and a great three-point shooter. Ohio State is the top overall seed in the tournament. The keys to the game for OSU are to not get hurt, and to play good enough to avoid what would probably be the biggest upset in NCAA history.
UTSA: I'm not going to spend too much time on UTSA. They beat Alabama State Wednesday night behind guard Melvin Johnson III's 29 points. They went 9-7 in the Southland Conference. They are not on the same level as Ohio State, not even close. Short of everyone on Ohio State coming down with a terrible illness, there is no way they should win this game.
The most interesting thing I know about UTSA is that when Evansville beat them earlier in the year, the Evansville paper kept switching between writing UTSA and USTA in the game recap. I tried to find evidence of this online, but they edited the story when they put it on the website.
Prediction: This will not be a good game. Buckeyes by 25.
Ohio State vs Texas-San Antonio
Friday, March 18, 4:40 PM ET on TNT
Quicken Loans Arena: Cleveland, Ohio