Monday's Buckeye Bits

Rise and shine Buckeye fans, it's March Madness Week! Despite the Buckeye's loss in the B1G Championship to Michigan State, the weekend was still a success after finishing off a great run for the basketball team.

Heading into the weekend Buckeye fans were a bit skeptical of their chances in any tournament, let alone the NCAA tournament. Thankfully, a last second win over MSU to win a share of the regular season title, and shutting down Purdue and Michigan, brought some much-needed energy and hope before the March Madness tournament.

The Madness begins tomorrow but to hold you over until then, let's dive in to today's Buckeye Bits!

Buckeyes Earn A 2-Seed. The NCAA March Madness tournament selection show yesterday revealed the seeding of the 68-team bracket, where the Buckeyes landed in the East region as a #2 seed. The opponent they will face (Thursday at 9:50) is the #15 seed, Loyola Greyhounds. The Buckeyes region is pretty tough, featuring opponents such as #1 seed Syracuse, #3 seed Florida State and #6 seed Cincinnati. Here are the rest of the region's, for your viewing enjoyment: Midwest, West, South (H/T Eleven Warriors)

Recap: Ohio State vs. Illinois

Well that was fun.

The Buckeyes came into Senior night looking to make a statement, and they did, all while taking care of buisness. Jon Diebler was just totally on fire aganist Illinois from behind the arc, hitting seven 3-pointers for 21 points, to give the Buckeyes a 73-57 victory and at least a share of the Big Ten title. The party had begun for the fans in Columbus, who after last season's dissapointing first round loss in the NCAA tourny. Ohio State has won seven of its last nine games vs. Illinois and are 17-1 at Value City Arena this season. Although the Buckeyes won't have a home court advantage, it's impossible, they will still look to play well with all cylinders firing from both ends. One thing that was pretty cool, during the game Buckeye fans were shouting "One more year!" for Evan Turner who is thinking about going to the NBA, and has a serious chance to be player of the year in college basketball. With this win, Ohio State will be a top seeded team in the Big Ten tourny. Buford and Lighty helped out, chipping in 17, and 15, respectvily. Evan Turner did not lead the team in points, but did lead them in rebounds, and was close to having a triple-double. If Illinois would like to stay in the race for the Big Ten tourny, they have to win aganist Wisconsin. If they do, they earn a first round bye. As a side note, Mark "The Shark" Titus played in his final game at Value City Arena. We would like to wish him good luck in the future. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed that he didn't shoot a three there at the end of the game. I understand, though, and he did the classy, smart thing. In doing so, he put one final Trillion in at VCA, and we wish him congrats.

If that's not a POY kiss, then I don't know what is.

I just wanted to let everyone know, the GPC is always open for people to join, just comment on any post, and tell us if you would like to. Then comment who you think will win the next game. For those of you already in it, let me tell you that during the Big Ten Tourny, and the March Maddness tourny, we want every single game pick. If need be, send it to our email at insidetheshoe2009@hotmail.com or just post a really long comment. Good luck to all!