Ohio State women’s basketball clinch No. 3 seed in Big Ten Tournament

That’s it, the regular season is over. Now all eyes shift towards the Big Ten Tournament and this season, the Buckeyes clinched the No. 3 seed, giving Ohio State its fourth consecutive year with a top-four conference finish. Here’s what to know about the tournament and the potential road to a first Big Ten tournament trophy since 2018.

To get there, the Buckeyes have a tough road that likely includes needing to beat either or both the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. Before Ohio State thinks that far ahead, they start their tournament journey in the fourth quarterfinal game of Friday’s slate of matchups. The start time is up in the air though, starting 25 minutes after the third game of the night beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. That means a likely start time around 9:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.

There is one of three potential opponents for the Buckeyes in the quarterfinals. On Wednesday, the No. 11 Iowa Hawkeyes and No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers play in the first round, starting roughly around 8:30 p.m. ET on Peacock. Ohio State beat both of the sides in the regular season, but there’s still one more game for whoever comes out on top.

On Thursday, the winner of Wisconsin and Iowa faces off against the No. 6 Michigan State. Spartans for a chance to play the Buckeyes on Friday. The second round game starts around 9:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.

Winning in the quarterfinals is by no means a guarantee. Take last year for example. The Buckeyes came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and Maryland humbled Ohio State 82-61. Now, this year’s program is different than last year when the 23-24 Big Ten regular season champions came into games seemingly expecting a win to come their way. A lack of grit that hurt the Buckeyes not only in the Big Ten Tournament but the second round of March Madness too.

Last season’s conference tournament upset for Ohio State was the first time a Kevin McGuff-coached Buckeyes team came into the tournament in the quarterfinals and lost. Should that trend continue on Friday, Ohio State potentially faces the UCLA Bruins in the semifinal.

Back on Feb. 5, the Scarlet and Gray tied up the Bruins 44-44 within the first minute of the fourth quarter but UCLA surged ahead to win 65-52.

Now, there is a chance of upset in the quarterfinals for the Los Angeles side, but the season showed that there’s a gap between the top two of the conference and the remaining 16 teams.

Saturday night, the Bruins and Trojans battled for the Big Ten regular season title, with Watkins leading USC in a one-sided game against UCLA. However, an unfortunate prize for the Trojans is playing Friday at noon ET, which is 9:00 a.m. PT. So, although it seems like the safe bet to put the Trojans and Bruins in the Big Ten Tournament final, anything can happen during tournament time.