Throughout the year, we will be asking and answering questions about various Ohio State teams, the players, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
The No. 8 Ohio State men’s basketball team will open up its 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament today at 12:15 p.m. ET on CBS against the No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs. Then, on Saturday, the No. 3 Ohio State women’s basketball team will face off with No. 14 Howard in the first round of the Women’s Tournament at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.
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Since the tournament is kicking off early on a Thursday, we put a rush on the results for this week’s Land-Grant Holy Land fan survey. Earlier this week, we asked you how far you thought that each of the Buckeye teams would go in their respective Big Dances. The results to those questions are below, so check them out, and if you want to expound on what you see, feel free to do so in the comments at the bottom of the page.
Also, there is still time before the action tips off, so you should absolutely visit our friends at the FanDuel Sportsbook, since they are sponsoring this article, and put some money on your hoops knowledge.
Question 1: How far will the Ohio State men go in the NCAA Tournament?
If you would have told me a month ago that 61% of Buckeye Nation would be picking Jake Diebler’s Buckeyes to win a game in the NCAA Tournament, I would have been absolutely beside myself. To see how far this team has come in such a short amount of time is awesome, and it is only exceeded by how exciting it is to see Buckeye fans jumping on the bandwagon and ready to root for the Scarlet and Gray against TCU and then, more than likely, Duke.
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I think that the past few weeks have been a really good reminder that Buckeye fans might follow football first and foremost, but they love basketball, too. So, as long as there is a discernible commitment to winning from the administration, and the program is turning out a good product, the OSU faithful will show up.
I’m riding with that dominant majority and picking Ohio State to beat TCU, and who knows, given how they played against Michigan, and how beat up Duke has been, I wouldn’t completely rule out a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 either.
Question 2: How far will the Ohio State women go in the NCAA Tournament?
The Ohio State women’s team has consistently been one of the best programs in the country over the past four seasons, but the last two tournaments have ended prematurely, as the Buckeyes saw their seasons ended in the Second Round of the tournament on their home court in 2024 and 2025.
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Kevin McGuff’s squad is hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight season, by virtue of being amongst the top-16 seeds in the Big Dance. However, the team is looking to make its first Sweet 16 since 2023.
Fortunately, over 90% of respondents to this week’s survey think that the Buckeyes will make it at least to the second weekend of the tournament. I am going to side with the masses on this one as well, and maybe knock off No. 2 Vanderbilt to make the Elite 8.
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
