The Ohio State Buckeyes landed an eight-seed in the East Region of the bracket, and they’ll face off against the nine-seed TCU Horned Frogs.
Ohio State vs. TCU opening odds
TCU comes in at 22-11 after navigating the nastiest league in the country and finishing 11-7 in the Big 12, and the résumé has real weight behind it: wins over Florida, Wisconsin, Baylor, Iowa State and Texas Tech, plus a late push that saw the Horned Frogs win eight of nine before a tight 78-73 conference tournament loss to Kansas. Jamie Dixon’s group is not built like a cute underdog. It is built like a tournament problem. TCU averages 78.3 points, shoots 44.8% from the floor, rebounds at a 36.2-per-game clip, and blocks 150 shots in 33 games. The Frogs win with force, depth and a frontcourt that keeps dragging games into traffic. David Punch leads them at 14.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, Xavier Edmonds adds 12.6 and 6.6 on 57.2% shooting, and Brock Harding gives the offense shape with 188 assists. This is a team that can play through bodies, survive whistle-heavy stretches and make the game feel heavier than an opponent wants.
Ohio State, though, arrives with its own March edge. The Buckeyes are 21-12, finished 12-8 in the Big Ten, and looked like a team waking up at exactly the right time: they beat Purdue, Penn State, Indiana and Iowa in a two-week span, then pushed top-seeded Michigan to the final possessions in a 71-67 quarterfinal loss. Jake Diebler’s team is cleaner offensively than people realize. Ohio State averages 80.2 points, shoots 49.7% from the floor, 36.1% from three and 77.4% at the line while turning it over only 10.4 times per game. Bruce Thornton is the headliner and the game’s cleanest late-clock scorer—20.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 125 assists, 56.3% shooting overall and 40.0% from three. John Mobley Jr. is drilling 42.2% of his threes, Devin Royal gives them 13.7 points and 5.5 boards, and the whole attack has enough shotmaking to punish any defensive lapse. That is why this matchup feels so good on arrival: TCU brings the muscle, Ohio State brings the shot creation, and March just put both styles in the same room.
