The Buckeyes are bitter

April 4th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

In case you hadn’t noticed, THE Ohio State Buckeyes won the NIT last evening, beating out the Minutemen of UMass, 92-85. The Buckeyes were solid enough this season, but didn’t quite catch the committee’s eye. And they’d like you all to know about it.

“This is what happens when you put an NCAA tournament team in the NIT,” Butler yelled, surrounded by his teammates after beating Massachusetts 92-85 in the title game Thursday night. “Write that down and send that to the committee.”

A year removed from a loss in the national-championship game, the Buckeyes have a trophy to carry home — even if it’s not the one they had wanted.

“Kind of a sore loser,” coach Thad Matta said, when asked whether he would watch the Final Four this weekend. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I think I’m going to rest.”

With an RPI rated 13th in the country and a non-conference schedule against the likes of Butler, North Carolina and Texas A&M, the Buckeyes were probably a bit better than what their regular season mark of 19-13 might indicate. They were one of the 64 best teams in the country; the Bucks probably should have been in the tournament. But they also went home winners, man. And only two teams a year get to do that. Also: they got a sweet Fossil watch which they can show off to all their friends.

That’s a better end to the season than getting bounced out of the tournament in the first round, right?