Ohio State Fading Fast When It Means The Most

Ohio State is fading when most programs considered to be national powers are hoping to be rising -- in March.

After all, this is when the madness officially begins.

But on the bright side, the Buckeyes' recent three-game slide took place in February, capped by Sunday's 73-57 blowout loss to Iowa.

"They clearly outplayed us, outperformed us, outcoached us," Ohio State coach Holtmann told reporters.

Other than that, the Buckeyes were great.

"We've got to get back to work," Holtmann said.

Truer words have never been spoken. The Buckeyes are now eighth overall in the CBS Sports' Top 25 rankings. As of now, their dreams of a top seed in the NCAA Tournament have vanished.

Before Iowa, they lost to Michigan and Michigan State. They now trail Big 10 foes Michigan (No. 2 overall), Illinois (No. 4) and Iowa (No. 7) in the CBS rankings. Though Ohio State did beat Illinois earlier this season.

The Buckeyes merely only need to find whatever worked that game and get back to it. Right now, though, that seems like a long shot. And suddenly, so does Ohio State when talking about a national title.

Written by
Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.