Buckeyes must prove themselves again in Big Ten

By: AP via DaytonDailyNews.com –

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jim Foster is presented with the problem of inspiring his Ohio State women’s team to play hard ina tournament that barely acknowledges what the Buckeyes already have done.

“I don’t know why they have them, to be quite frank with you,” the veteran coach said, referring to conference tournaments. “How you can earn something in three days that someone played two months to earn, is something I don’t quite understand. But that’s just me.”

The 10th-ranked Buckeyes (27-4, 15-3) open play in the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis with a quarterfinal game on Friday at 6 p.m. against Illinois.

The Buckeyes dominated all season while becoming the first men’s or women’s team to win a Big Ten title six years in a row. Yet for all their hard work, about all they have to show for it is a first-round bye (along with three other teams), the No. 1 seeding and a regular-season trophy.

It also rankles Foster, a winner of 711 games in a glittering 32-year career including the last eight at Ohio State, that the conference’s reserved spot in the NCAA tournament goes to the winner of Sunday’s title game.

“The fact that the automatic bid goes with it is even sillier to me,” he said.

Ohio State won the regular-season title by three games, locked up a share of the championship earlier than any team ever had and clearly has shown itself to be the conference’s best all season. But the Buckeyes must prove themselves all over again.

Foster said he’s smart enough to know that even though he doesn’t like conference tournaments, he recognizes that it’s his job to get his team ready for one.

“Because I don’t favor the concept doesn’t mean I don’t understand the reality of the fact that we have games,” he said. “I view it from our perspective as a preparation for the postseason. And that’s what I will tell my team.”

No matter the opponent, starting post player Jantel Lavender said the Buckeyes realize what’s…..

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