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Ohio State basketball
National championships: 1 (1960)
Final fours: 10 (Last: 2007)
Ohio State basketball has had many great teams over the years - not as many as in football - but still,
Ohio State is one of just five schools nationally to win both a basketball and a football national title.
The teams of the early 1960s were the school's best. Jerry Lucas led a team that won the national title
in 1960, defeating Cal 75-55 in the title game. The next two years the Bucks lost to Cincinnati in the finals.
Ohio State had periodic resurgences over the years, rocking St. John Arena year after year. But the next great team would come along in the early 1990s. In 190-91 the Buckeyes finished 27-4 and the
next year 26-6. They were often ranked in the top couple spots nationally, but never managed to pull off a title behind Jim
Jackson and coach Gary Williams.
When the Buckeyes hired Randy Ayers in the mid-1990s, they were in a slump, and one that would continue
through the rest of their time at St. John Arena. In 1997-98 OSU started 4-1, but went 1-15 in conference play and finished
8-22. Freshman Michael Redd was the one bright spot, averaging over 20 points per game.
In 1998-99 Ohio State opened Value City Arena across the river, with a seating capacity of over 7,000 more than St. John Arena. At the new venue, the Bucks won their first
game in convincing fashion, and jumped out to a 6-0 record. When Indiana came to town in January, the Buckeyes routed the
highly ranked Hoosiers 73-56 and worked their way high in the rankings. The Buckeyes lost just one game at home that year
and finished the regular season 22-7. In the NCAA Tournament, they went on a miracle run that included a 72-58 win over Murray
State, a 75-44 win over Detroit, a 71-64 victory over top seed Auburn, and a 77-74 win over St. John. This team, led
by Michael Redd, Scoonie Penn, Jason Singleton, and dominating center Ken Johnson, exceeded expectations, but had much greater
ones to meet the following year.
The '99-'00 Buckeyes lost Singleton, but they countered by adding George Reese and Brian Brown to the starting
lineup. The preseason national #4, OSU opened the season with a shocking home loss to Notre Dame, dropping them to 15th in
the polls. But OSU resopnded with several wins before dropping another game in Lawrence, Kansas to the #8 Kansas Jayhawks.
Finally, the Bucks got rolling, going 13-3 in conference play, including splitting two games with eventual national champion
Michigan State. But this time there was no postseason magic - OSU was upset by Miami in the second round.
With the loss of Penn and Redd, the Bucks had much lower expectations entering the 2000-01 season. But the
young Buckeyes surprised, going 11-5 in conference play including upset wins over #3 Michigan State and #3 Illinois. They
nabbed a 5-seed in the NCAA tournament but lost in the first round.
The following year, with a nearly intact team but for the loss of center Ken Johnson, OSU waltzed to a 17-2
start before going 1-3 on a crucial road stretch that included games at two of the conference's heavyweights. Despite the
losses, though, the Buckeyes finished in a four way tie for conference champions with an 11-5 record. In the conference tournament,
OSU beat Michigan for a third time in the season, then downed national power Illinois and completed the conference title
with a win over Iowa. Ohio State entered the national tournament 23-7, and lost in the second round.
The next couple years were tougher for Ohio State. In 2002-03, led by Brent Darby and Sean Connolly, the
Buckeyes provided some early hope that Jim O'Brien would once again work magic out of mediocrity, but a brutal conference
schedule, a narrow bench, and a couple close losses doomed OSU. They ran off three wins to make the conference tournament
final, but even a streaking Brent Darby could not overcome Illinois, and the Buckeyes finished 17-15 including an NIT loss.
In '03-'04 the Buckeyes hit rock bottom. They finished below .500 for the first time since 1997-98 at 14-16
after a last second loss to Illinois in the season finale. And in the offseason head coach Jim O'Brien was fired. As his replacement
Ohio State hired Thad Matta, a young coach who had just taken Xavier to the Elite Eight.
Matta's first year went well, though it was filled with close losses. The Buckeyes finished 20-12, including
a season finale 65-64 upset over #1 Illinois. The year also included a 26-point romp over Michigan and impressive long range
shooting all year.
In Matta's second year, everything seemed to come together. OSU was one of the nation's hottest shooting
teams for most of the year, led by Je'kel Foster and Terrence Dials. For the first time in decades Ohio State went undefeated
in non-conference play, then won an outright conference title by going 12-4 againts Big Ten foes. Once again, Ohio State slammed
Illinois at home 69-53. Ohio State earned a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament, but lost in the second round.
The following offseason, Matta had great success, signing player after player ranked in the top 50 nationally,
earning the group the nickname, the "Thad Five." At the center of the group was 7-foot center Greg Oden from Indianapolis,
a player the Indiana crowd felt great anger over losing. Even with these new talented faces, Ohio State started a little rocky,
losing at North Carolina, at Florida and at Wisconsin. But once everything came together, Ohio State put together a season
to remember, dominating opponents to finish the regular season with just those three losses, only one of which came in conference
play. In the Big Ten Tournament Ohio State won in style, avenging the loss to Wisconsin with a 17-point rout over the Badgers
to take the title. OSU also maneuvered their way through the NCAA tournament, taking down Xavier in overtime after trailing
by 11, then taking down Tennessee after having trailed by 20. Ohio State beat Memphis and Georgetown soundly to make the title
game, where they lost to Florida. Greg Oden chose the NBA over a second season in Columbus following the season.
Ticket sample photo scans
Assorted other
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