Five Looming Questions as Buckeyes Prepare for Big Ten Tournament

No. 9 Ohio State is ready to go as the Big Ten Tournament opens on Wednesday night in Indianapolis. The Buckeyes were once among the hottest teams in the country, but have since slipped back a bit and enter postseason play on a 4-game losing streak.

As the tournament begins this week, here are five things on my mind:

Four Games in Four Days

Considering how elite this league has been this year, and considering how beat up this team has been over the last two months, winning four games in four days seems like an awfully tall task. But it's certainly not impossible. At a minimum, someone is going to win three games in three days if one of the top four seeds wins the conference championship.

While OSU ventures to Indianapolis on the heels of four straight losses, Chris Holtmann acknowledged that three of the games included some really good play and that losses in the conference are sometimes inevitable. But winning a Big Ten title is going to take a phenomenal, consistent effort this week. I believe the Buckeyes have it in them, but it's going to be quite a challenge.

How Healthy are the Buckeyes?

That's a tough question, but one that's on everyone's mind lately. The best news coming out of Chris Holtmann's Wednesday press conference is that senior forward Kyle Young feels as good as he has all year. Holtmann said Young's lower body is strong and in good shape, and he's in a great place mentally. The Buckeyes need him in a big way this week.

Beyond that, Musa Jallow, C.J. Walker and Seth Towns continue to be bothered in varying degrees by injury. Walker has largely been able to play through it over the last month since returning to action. Holtmann told reporters on Wednesday that Justice Sueing had a procedure done this week and has been unable to practice, but he would be back on the floor this afternoon.

This team might be entering Big Ten postseason play on a sour note, but they're certainly capable of winning the tournament if they can stay healthy this week.

Can the Defense Get Stops?

Offensively, we've seen Ohio State play most of the season as one of the premier, efficient teams in college basketball. Most of the time this year, their undoing has come on the other end of the floor. Yes, it was the offense that went ice cold against Michigan State and Illinois in the tail end of those games. But winning a conference title this week is going to take an impressive effort on the defensive side.

Every game the Buckeyes lost this year (except for perhaps Northwestern) came against a team with a very good post player. Ohio State's lack of length and size in the post is problematic and has been troublesome throughout the year. It's very difficult to make a deep run in March without a great post presence, especially when playing against other teams that have them. But to the Buckeyes' credit, they are as gritty and tough as any team in the country and despite their regular size disadvantage, they really make other teams work for points in the paint.

Which Role Player Steps into the Spotlight?

When you're a top-10 team in the country, you come to expect a lot from your starters. Ohio State doesn't have the same true star-power that a lot of other highly-ranked teams have. E.J. Liddell is a really good player and earned first team all-Big Ten for a reason. Duane Washington Jr. has had a rollercoaster season with some amazing moments and some forgettable ones. Beyond them, someone else really needs to step up.

During the last couple weeks, Walker, Young and Sueing have all played a lot of minutes alongside Liddell and Washington. Justin Ahrens has seen decreased minutes since he was taken out of the starting lineup. Can he deliver in clutch moments off the bench this week? How will Zed Key perform in his first Big Ten Tournament? He could be a huge x-factor this week. If C.J. Walker got in foul trouble, could Meechie Johnson make big plays? His playing time has been limited after transferring in mid-year, but given some of the big shots he's hit this season, you can't count him out.

Whoever it is, somebody is likely going to have the chance to make a season-saving play. Hopefully they're ready for the moment.

How Quickly Can the Buckeyes Get Their Mojo Back?

After starting Big Ten play with a 2-3 record and looking a bit overwhelmed, Ohio State went on an absolute tear. They won 10 of the next 11 games, beating four top-15 teams on the road (a school-record) and they rose from an unranked team to a No. 4 national ranking in just a few weeks.

While they seem to have lost some of that spark lately, the Scarlet and Gray are very capable of rediscovering it. How quickly they can do so will go a long way in determining how deep of a run they can make this week.

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