Goal No. 1 for Ohio was to make the NCAA Tournament.
When that dream sailed away with an 83-77 loss to Akron in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals, the players knew that a postseason bid was within reach. They just weren’t very enthusiastic about it.
“After the loss against Akron, it was obviously a bad feeling,” said senior guard Travis Wilkins. “I don’t think any of us were looking forward to anything after that just because everything we had planned on kind of went down the drain.”
Ahead for the Bobcats is a chance to play more basketball in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, which features other MAC teams such as Eastern Michigan and Akron.
Ohio senior guard Nick Kellogg said there are some decent teams in this tournament, but it’s still a step down to what he and his teammates set their sights on.
“It’s definitely a letdown,” Kellogg said. “You set out these goals, you want to get to the (NCAA) Tournament, and then in the NIT, at least you get a chance to go to Madison Square Garden if you make it that far.”
Ohio coach Jim Christian said he knows players will view this as a step down from other postseason tournaments and that the CIT isn’t where he’d hoped his team would be at this point in the season. With that being said, he thinks the Bobcats should still value the opportunity to play postseason basketball.
“In college basketball there’s so much emphasis on the NCAA Tournament that, once that goal is out, it’s hard to motivate,” Christian said. “We had some guys disappointed to play in the NIT (last season), and if you ask them today how they feel about it, they have the most regret. I’ve heard from every one of them who wishes they could change it.”
And much of that, in Christian’s opinion, falls upon college basketball as an institution and its inability to make postseason tournaments other than the “Big Dance,” something to be proud of.
He said college football does a much better job of “promoting success,” in regard to its numerous bowl games that allow lower-tier programs to feel some degree of success.
For a team in his own conference like Buffalo to turn down bids to both the CIT and the College Basketball Invitational is “awful,” and doesn’t allow the MAC’s profile to rise, Christian said.
“If you don’t feel like you want to play because you’re above it, then I’m embarrassed for you,” he said. “I’m saddened when I see Buffalo do it.”
Christian said he isn’t sure how enthusiastic his players will be for Wednesday’s tournament opener against Cleveland State.
“There’s some who do (embrace the opportunity) and there’s some who don’t,” Christian said. “I think that’s college basketball. There’s no special players, there’s no special teams. My message will be to do that and if you don’t do that, there’s no doubt at some point in your life you’ll have regret.”
From a player’s perspective, Kellogg said that motivation won’t be an issue for him but could see it being a factor for some of his teammates.
“For me, honestly, basketball is basketball,” Kellogg said.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
