The Ohio State basketball program is looking to build on a positive ending to a rather unforgettable season last year. The Buckeyes finished in 13th place in the conference last season but found a way to make a run all the way to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament to provide a little momentum and hope for this coming hoops season.
The schedule won’t be an easy one in the rough and tumble Big Ten as well as a pretty high level of competition in the nonconference. One of those nonconference matchups was announced on Tuesday and it’ll be a big-time challenge for the Buckeyes. That’s because OSU’s matchups in the 2023 Emerald Coast Classic include a semifinal date with the Alabama Crimson Tide on November 24 at 7 p.m. ET.
After OSU hosts Western Michigan in the first game of the event, it’ll travel to Niceville, Florida to take on a Crimson Tide team that was the overall No. 1 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Alabama was eventually upset by San Diego State in the Sweet 16 last year but finished the year 31-6. It’s expected to be a fringe top-ten team again this coming year.
OSU and ‘Bama haven’t played each other since the No. 4 ranked Tide beat the Buckeyes 54-48 on November 29, 2002. The two programs are 3-3 against each other all-time, making this just the seventh time the two programs will have faced each other.
Pairings announced for #EmeraldCoastClassic. Great matchups on Friday, Nov. 24
—@AlabamaMBB vs. @OhioStateHoops
—@SantaClaraHoops vs. @OregonMBB #BasketballOnTheBeach🏀🏖️🌴😎https://t.co/CC3DjWevlf pic.twitter.com/TfEmWO5COS— Emerald Coast Classic (@EmeraldCClassic) May 23, 2023
The other semifinal matchup of the Emerald Coast Classic will be a contest between Oregon and Santa Clara. Other teams included in the matchups before heading to the campus of Northwest Florida State are Mercer, Tennessee State, and Southeastern Louisiana.
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