Ohio State Selected as a No. 8-Seed in NCAA Tournament
3/15/2026 6:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State has earned a No. 8-seed in the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament and will face No. 9-seed TCU on Thursday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. The game time will be announced later Sunday evening.
The Buckeyes and Horned Frogs will be meeting for the fifth time overall and the first in the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State has won the previous four meetings, but the teams have not met since 1969.
Ohio State is making its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2022.
Overall, the Buckeyes are 52-30 in NCAA Tournament games, with one national title in 1960. The Buckeyes have finished as NCAA Runners-up four times (1939, 1961, 1962 and 2007) and have been to 10 Final Fours, 14 NCAA Sweet 16s and 14 Elite Eights.
In Ohio State’s last tournament appearance in 2022, the Buckeyes were a No. 7 seed and beat Loyola Chicago in the opening round in Pittsburgh before falling to No. 2 seed and eventual Final Four participant Villanova.
The Buckeyes are 21-12 on the season and finished eighth in the Big Ten with a 12-8 mark. They are led by second-year head coach Jake Diebler, who is leading his first team to the NCAA Tournament. Senior point guard Bruce Thornton is having a career year, averaging 20.2 points per game. He is the program’s first four-time captain and recently became the program’s all-time leading scorer.
