By: Bryan Cross (SportsBookGurus.com) -- The madness of March as it relates to college basketball was never more evident than over the first weekend of the 2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament. Favorites were upset, Big Conferences went down, and by the close of Sunday, several Davids were walking side-by-side with Goliaths. While upsets and double-digit seeds stole many of the story-lines over the four-day period of wall-to-wall college basketball, there are still three No.1 seeds and three No.2 seeds that ... Read More

By Dan Enright (npnnow.com) -- Who knew the bracketologists sequestered on the 15th floor of the Indianapolis Westin Hotel — you know, the selection committee — would after all get it right. Many Big East partisans expressed disappointment that Round of 32 may very well feature two matchups from the conference that always seems to garner an outsized amount of attention. The Big East consists of 16 teams, and after landing an unprecedented 11 teams into the field ... Read More

Mike DeCourcy (SportingNew.com) -- Halftime of Ohio State's third-round NCAA Tournament was a good moment for Buckeyes freshman Jared Sullinger. His team was ahead of George Mason by 26 points, and he was named one of four finalists for the James A. Naismith Award presented to college basketball's player of the year by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club. Sullinger was nominated along with BYU guard Jimmer Fredette, Connecticut guard Kemba Walker and Duke guard Nolan Smith. Smith and Fredette are seniors. Walker ... Read More

By: Ryan Rudnansky (BleacherReport.com) -- We've all heard about freshman sensation Jared Sullinger. But what about senior guard David Lighty? Lighty doesn't have the jump-out-at-you stats that Sullinger does, nor does he compare in that department to other teammates. But he's a complete player, a player that can score when called upon, rebound the ball effectively and pass the ball well. According to Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News, "Lighty is someone (Buckeyes) coach Thad Matta reveres so much he suggested the school should erect a ... Read More

By: Mike DeCourcy (SportingNews.com) -- CLEVELAND—Some say he is the best sixth man in college basketball, and if Aaron Craft were a sixth man, that likely would be true. A sixth man? He is as much a starter as anyone who has his name called by the public address announcer prior to the game and walks on the floor for the opening tip. It is a curious little dance the Ohio State Buckeyes perform at the start of every ... Read More

From: digtriad.com -- David Lighty was a perfect 7-of-7 from beyond the arc en route to 25 points, as the Ohio State Buckeyes annihilated the George Mason Patriots, 98-66, in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Jared Sullinger and William Buford each added 18 points for the Buckeyes (34-2), who set a school tournament record with 16 three-pointers. Jon Diebler tallied 13 points for Ohio State, ... Read More

BY: AP via MiamiHerald.com -- COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jantel Lavender collected her 75th career double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds, leading the way as fourth-seeded Ohio State fought off pesky Central Florida 80-69 on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The only four-time Big Ten player of the year, Lavender scored in transition, on medium-range jumpers and on her patented drop-step move on the block. The ... Read More

BY MATT MARKEY (ToledoBlade.com) -- CLEVELAND — Former Bowling Green coach Jim Larranaga and his George Mason team won their first game in this year's NCAA tournament in dramatic fashion Friday, taking out Villanova by a 61-57 score at Quicken Loans Arena. The Patriots had not led in the game since the opening five minutes until a dunk by Mike Morrison with just under a minute left gave them a 56-54 edge. After Villanova regained the lead ... Read More

By Zachary D. Rymer (BleacherReport.com) -- The Ohio State Buckeyes finished the season ranked No. 1, and they then proceeded to win the Big Ten tourney, ultimately earning themselves the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. And in their 75-46 thrashing of Texas-San Antonio on Friday, the Buckeyes definitely looked like the team to beat. William Buford, Jon Diebler, and Jared Sullinger combined for 43 of the Buckeyes' 75 points. The team as a whole shot a ... Read More

BY MATT MARKEY (ToledoBlade.com) -- CLEVELAND – The No. 1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes put away Texas-San Antonio 75-46 Friday evening in their opening game of the NCAA tournament. Ohio State, the top overall seed in the tournament, had far too much firepower for the Roadrunners, who had to win a play-in game on Wednesday night in order to advance to meet the Buckeyes at Quicken Loans Arena, home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. Libbey grad William Buford sparked ... Read More

By Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Ohio State coach Jim Tressel will now miss at least the first five games of the 2011 season after asking Ohio State to increase his suspension to match the suspensions handed to five Buckeyes for selling memorabilia. The news came late Thursday night after the NCAA denied Ohio State's appeal of the five-game suspension handed down to players Terrelle Pryor, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas in December. ... Read More

By: Blake Williams (TheLantern.com) -- Despite finding itself in what many agree to be the NCAA Tournament's toughest region, the Ohio State men's basketball team might have one advantage in this year's postseason: Cleveland. The Buckeyes find themselves playing the first two rounds of March just 141 miles north of campus, at the Quicken Loans Arena. Considering six of the team's top seven contributors hail from Ohio, and the lone outlier, freshman forward Deshaun Thomas, is from neighboring Indiana, ... Read More

By Michael Cahill (BleacherReport.com) -- For all the intrigue and speculation that the analyst do around tourney time, there are few that actually go out on a limb. If you take a look at most of the Final Fours, very few stray far from their seedings. While SI’s Stewart Mandel isn’t exactly picking a 16 vs. 1 upset, he’s about the only analyst around who’s got the guts to knock Ohio State off of their perch. He’s got Kentucky having the juice to knock ... Read More

By: AP via SportsIllustrated -- LeBron James expects his uniforms and sneakers to be on display when the nets are cut down to celebrate this year's NCAA title. Predictably, James expects Ohio State to win the national title. This should come as no surprise, of course, given that James is from Ohio, is a longtime Buckeyes fan - oh, yeah, and the team wears his apparel. Equally predictable his Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade says Marquette is the last team standing on ... Read More

From: Stateman.com -- This is the time of year when dreams come true. Somebody's anyway. Besides Dickie V. Ohio State's will, too, assuming Jared Sullinger didn't do anything untoward just to get a tattoo of Mom from a certain Columbus tattoo parlor. I love Kansas' depth because Bill Self basically has two of everything. He's got the 6-9 plus twins in Marcus and Markieff Morris, he's got a pair of point guards in Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson, he's got two ... Read More

BY JENNI CARLSON (NewsOK.com) -- Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger has been named the winner of the inaugural Wayman Tisdale Award. The honor given by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association recognizes the national freshman of the year. Even though the group has bestowed the honor since 1989, it was renamed last fall in memory of the native Oklahoman and three-time Sooner All-American who died in 2009 after a two-year battle with cancer. Sullinger averaged a team-leading 17.2 points and 10.1 rebounds ... Read More

By: Phil Caldwell (BleacherReport.com) -- For a school that is supposed to be a leader in higher education that grooms students for positions of future leadership and responsibility, the stunning self-imposed penalties Ohio State University placed upon itself would be better served as SNL monologue fodder. Jim Tressel, the school’s self-proclaimed wonder coach, will sit for two games and pay $250,000 in fines while his team opens the season against cream puffs next season. Oh, the horror of ... Read More