Ohio State vs. Cincinnati (Thursday 9:45)

• Fly4Fun

  

  Well Cinci just finished up an exciting win against FSU to make it an All Ohio affair for the trip to the elite 8.
  
  This game will carry some bragging rights for a while. Some on-air personalities were very high on FSU and Vandy to be "surprise" teams from this regional, but both of them are out now.
  
  What are the key match-ups in this game?
• ernest_t_bass

  

  Well, you suck. LOL, C4F. ROTFLMAO. ZOMG!
• Fly4Fun

  

  ernest_t_bass;1120933 wrote:Well, you suck. LOL, C4F. ROTFLMAO. ZOMG!

  Noted.
• Cleveland Buck

  

  ernest_t_bass;1120933 wrote:Well, you suck. LOL, C4F. ROTFLMAO. ZOMG!

  +rep
• robj55

  

  Cinci isn't good enough on offense imo, Bucks by 10
• Curly J

  

  I'm in a situation where which team do I hate worse, since they both can't lose.
• Little Danny

  

  robj55;1120946 wrote:Cinci isn't good enough on offense imo, Bucks by 10

  Ask Syracuse and Georgetown about UC's offense. They haven't done it yet in the tournament, but every other game or so they go off on one of those game where they go off from the three point land (They were 8-10 for threes at one point in the first half against Syracuse in the Big East Semi-Final).
• Y-Town Steelhound

  

  Should be a quality game. The Sullinger-Gates matchup will be interesting.
• Terry_Tate

  

  Being a huge Ohio State fan who grew up and lives in Cincinnati this couldn't have worked out any worse. Ohio State better win this game or I'll hear shit for a long long time, and I don't even talk trash to UC fans.
  
  As for the game, it comes down to UC shooting 3s. Thomas is a tough matchup for UC but Gates can contain Sullinger fairly well IMO. Craft will need to have a big game for Ohio State to win. Ohio State is better by 6 to 8 points, but who knows in March.
• Cleveland Buck

  

  Gates will abuse Sullinger, but they don't really have an answer for Thomas, so the frontcourt is a wash. It will come down to guard play. If Buford mails it in again then forget about it.
• robj55

  

  Little Danny;1120969 wrote:Ask Syracuse and Georgetown about UC's offense. They haven't done it yet in the tournament, but every other game or so they go off on one of those game where they go off from the three point land (They were 8-10 for threes at one point in the first half against Syracuse in the Big East Semi-Final).

  Two games huh? They don't consistently score or make jumpshots, that will be why they lose.
• robj55

  

  Cleveland Buck;1120978 wrote:Gates will abuse Sullinger, but they don't really have an answer for Thomas, so the frontcourt is a wash. It will come down to guard play. If Buford mails it in again then forget about it.

  Um, no he won't.
• hoops23

  

  Gates will push Sully around and probably limit him to an average game.
  
  The key, once again, will be Thomas going off, Craft playing good, and Buford showing up.
• Laley23

  

  Should be an interesting game. If it becomes physical, every possession counts type game..advantage Cincy. If it is a tighter called, finesse game that gets up and down a bit...advantage OSU.
• hoops23

  

  robj55;1120982 wrote:Um, no he won't.

  Sully struggles big time against big bodied centers with athleticism... Unless Sully finally sacks up and takes a challenge personal, I wouldn't expect more than 14-16 points and 6-8 boards unless he's fouled a lot and Cincy just isn't hitting shit.
• DeyDurkie5

  

  bucks by 5
• hoops23

  

  I do think OSU wins by at least 5 points though.
• Terry_Tate

  

  hoops23;1120983 wrote:Gates will push Sully around and probably limit him to an average game.
  
  The key, once again, will be Thomas going off, Craft playing good, and Buford showing up.

  
  I agree with this.
  
  What scares me most about this is that I think Cincinnati will come out guns a blazing being jacked up to play Ohio State and OSU will come out like its another game. I want Ohio State to come out like when they played Michigan in the B1G tournament when you could tell they wanted to pound them into the ground. Ohio State plays with fire the whole game and there's no way they lose, but ill bet they're down early.
• robj55

  

  hoops23;1120987 wrote:Sully struggles big time against big bodied centers with athleticism... Unless Sully finally sacks up and takes a challenge personal, I wouldn't expect more than 14-16 points and 6-8 boards unless he's fouled a lot and Cincy just isn't hitting ****.

  16 and 8 will be more than enough, Sully will outplay Gates. Gates is very good but he is not the player Sully is imo. He will try and rough Sully up but won't be able to do it for 40 minutes.
• Little Danny

  

  robj55;1120979 wrote:Two games huh? They don't consistently score or make jumpshots, that will be why they lose.

  I gave two recent examples. This Bearcat team has beaten Syracuse, Georgetown (Twice), Louisville, Marquette, UCONN, Notre Dame and now Florida State among others. They are battle tested and capable of beating anybody on any given night.
• robj55

  

  Little Danny;1120998 wrote:I gave two recent examples. This Bearcat team has beaten Syracuse, Georgetown (Twice), Louisville, Marquette, UCONN, Notre Dame and now Florida State among others. They are battle tested and capable of beating anybody on any given night.

  I never said they weren't, just that they struggle to score and that is why they will lose. OSU is the better team.
• SportsAndLady

  

  UC's players are fuckin cold blooded. If this game is close at the end, UC will win.
• Fly4Fun

  

  All non-OSU fans (and even some OSU fans) continue to hate on Sully and the Buckeyes.
  
  OSU has also beaten plenty of quality teams and showed late game capabilities.
  
  One thing that I always look at is how a team celebrates after a win, it kind of signifies their mindset and potential for the next round. UC seemed a tad too jubilant for me. UC also has a few more bad losses on the schedule. And both of their games in thy tourny so far have been close ones.
  
  It should be a great game.
• Crimson streak

  

  Cinci is playing there best right now. Gates will more than likely get sully in foul trouble. Cinci will definitely fired up for this one. Cinci is really at there best when they run there offense through gates but he can get lazy at times and doesn't demand the ball. Once again the key will be Buford. He needs to step up and be the senior leader and take over the game like he's capable of. I expect a game in the 50's low 60's.
• Y-Town Steelhound

  

  Terry_Tate;1120994 wrote:I agree with this.
  
  What scares me most about this is that I think Cincinnati will come out guns a blazing being jacked up to play Ohio State and OSU will come out like its another game. I want Ohio State to come out like when they played Michigan in the B1G tournament when you could tell they wanted to pound them into the ground. Ohio State plays with fire the whole game and there's no way they lose, but ill bet they're down early.

  
  If Ohio State needs any extra motivation other than the fact it's the NCAA Tournament and this is the exact round they've gone out in the last 2 years then they deserve to lose.