Ohio State Hopes to Be The Man

If I'm head basketball coach Thad Matta, right now about now I'm tempted to solicit as much advice from coaching legends as I can. Then again, perhaps the words of a wrestling icon will suffice.

"To be the man," W.W.E. Hall of Famer Ric Flair has famously remarked, "You've got to beat the man."

Usually about that time, he'd bellow out his patented "woo" which triggered an orchestrated echo from the boisterous crowd.

That cliché will do nothing to aid the Buckeyes in possible victory Friday night against No. 4-seed Kentucky during the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament in Newark, N.J. But it sure does ring true.

If Ohio State (34-2) were categorically assigned the "great" label by pundits, the Buckeyes have done, arguably, everything it could be reasonably expected to do this season. As a mere mortal, Ohio State has seemingly gone far beyond the call of duty. But even the 34 victories will feel hollow absent a National Championship.

Perhaps those seem like unfair expectations that have been bestowed upon the Buckeyes. But get used to it.

Earning a National Championship is something within the firm grasp of this club. Ohio State is graced with a complete blend of experience, chemistry, shooting, scoring, rebounding, defense, intelligence and just enough depth to keep their second wind.

Between Jared Sullinger and Dallas Lauderdale inside, Aaron Craft, Jon Diebler, William Buford and David Lighty practically alternating heroic efforts on the perimeter and DeShaun Thomas off the bench-affectionately called "tank" by his teammates-Ohio State is loaded for bear for such a mission.

Living up to such capability, however, can be monumentally difficult. This year will be no exception. Beginning with the Wildcats on Friday, the Buckeyes will be staring down the barrel of a gun loaded with tradition-and possibly history.

If the expected winners advance this weekend, as the seeds would dictate, Ohio State would have a road to the National Championship that would include Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and Kansas. Provided Ohio State is not rerouted on a detour, the Buckeyes would encounter the top four programs in victories in NCAA Division I men's basketball history.

Exhale.

Collectively that's 7,942 wins, 165 trips to the NCAA Tournament, 59 Final Four appearances and 19 National Championship banners. Woo indeed. And in addition to flirting with programs responsible for such gaudy accomplishments, Ohio State could make a historic run for having the most difficult path to a National Championship.

Since expanding to 64 teams and beyond in 1986, North Carolina (1993) holds the distinction for most difficult tournament path for a National Champion by sum of opponents' seed (33). If Ohio State were to run this impressive gauntlet of national powerhouses, the 16-8-4-2-1-1 seed combination would set a 26-year record and would be the first time that a champion has faced the toughest path possible by seed.

Despite this possible brush with fame, Ohio State has no reason to be in awe.

Behind the aforementioned teams and UCLA, Ohio State is sixth all-time in Final Four appearances (10) and if they were to win a national championship this season-the school's second-then they would join only 14 other programs to win multiple titles. Further, in 2009, Jeff Sagarin in collaboration with ESPN, named Ohio State the No. 9-program all-time in a ranking of Division I programs.

Needless to say, this is all speculative. Any one of Kansas, Duke or North Carolina could falter. Ohio State could very well suffer their third and final defeat of the season to Kentucky on Friday. In fact, with at least a couple future NBA stars on Kentucky's roster, the Wildcats are no Sweet 16 picnic.

The regional semifinals rarely are a day at the beach. Ohio State learned this the hard way last season, falling to 6-seed Tennessee in St. Louis. In 1991, 20 years to yesterday, the Buckeyes fell as a No. 1-seed to 4-seed St. John's in Pontiac, Mich. by 17 points. So nothing is a given.

If Flair were in the squared circle, at least such an improbable if not virtually impossible run could be guided by the imagination of an ambitious creative team. But unfortunately for the Buckeyes, this made-for-TV movie won't be rigged in their favor.

Whether it's Big Blue, Power Blue, Duke Blue or the Crimson & Blue, Ohio State will have its' work cut out for it. It's almost certainly going to have to beat "the man."

Until the Buckeyes do that, or at this point it seems unless is the more apt term, doubters will remain. Nonetheless, there's not much else to doubt about this group.

In 9 years of data by KenPom.com, Ohio State is the second-most efficient offense on record-trailing only the 2005 North Carolina Tar Heel team that won a National Championship. Ohio State is certainly not lacking on defense, either, ranking No. 8 this season in adjusted defensive efficiency.

But the Buckeyes also are in good hands with Matta at the controls.

Now in his 11^th season as a Division I head basketball coach, Matta is approaching 300 career wins (291 to be exact). But it's his career mark in March that is starting to make an impression.

While Matta is still searching for his first National Championship, and has a long way to go to join some of his peers in Final Four appearances, he's going to soon earn the title of Mr. March if he keeps up the pace. Currently, Matta owns a frightening 64-15 record on or after March 1 each season-a .810 winning percentage. Among all active coaches with at least 10 years experience that is the best.

Here are some other notable names and how Matta ranks (all records span entire Division I head coaching careers through March 20 and were compiled through data extracted from team media guides):

Thad Matta                 Ohio State                   64-15               .810

John Calipari               Kentucky                    109-34             .762

Bill Self                       Kansas                         77-24               .762

Roy Williams              North Carolina           128-42             .753

Mark Few                    Gonzaga                      42-15               .737

Rick Pitino                  Louisville                    106-41             .721

Mike Krzyzewski        Duke                           154-61             .716

Ben Howland              UCLA                         53-24               .688

Jim Calhoun                Connecticut                 131-62             .679

Tom Izzo                     Michigan St.                73-35               .676

Bob Huggins               West Virginia              92-46               .667

Jim Boeheim               Syracuse                      131-80             .621

Billy Donovan             Florida                         62-38               .620

Rick Barnes                 Texas                           79-56               .585

Gary Williams             Maryland                     78-64               .549

Interestingly, the top two men on this list-Matta and Calipari-will square off on Friday. Matta is 1-0 against Calipari, with Ohio State having beat Memphis in 2007 to earn a trip to the Final Four.

Undoubtedly, it seems anything less than a Final Four this season would leave a bitter taste on the collective tongues of Buckeye fans everywhere. It would also give ammunition to the critics that this Ohio State team wasn't that great after all.

Early twentieth-century philosopher George Santayana once remarked in his 1905 book, The Life of Reason: "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

There's no forgetting the history of the teams standing in Ohio State's way. But knocking them out of the way would force Ohio State into the discussion of one of the better teams in the last several years.

Can they do it? We're about to find out.

They have the personnel dreams are made of. Also the possible schedule nightmares are made of.

But then again, Flair never said beating the man was easy.