Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Ohio State won the oh so prestigious NIT championship with a 92-85 shootout victory over UMass to stake their claim as the country's best team that's not actually one of the country's best teams.

Realistically, the Buckeyes are probably around the 30th or so best team in the country, but all this championship means is that the Buckeyes were the team most screwed over by San Diego's WAC Tournament Championship.  I doubt anybody thinks that the likes of Coppin State, UMBC, or Siena Oral Roberts are legitimately better teams than Ohio State, they just so happened to win when it counted, and the Buckeyes didn't.  Oh well, I guess this means that there are no excuses for missing the Big Dance next year.

Did we see a breakthrough game for Kosta Koufos?  As the game hit its stretch run, it turned into a battle of can-you-top-this between the 7'0" Greek star and the scrappy Minutemen.  The man seemed to hit his stride offensively, showing the best of both his face-up offensive style and athletic presence down low.  Assuming he stays one more year (still a tossup at this point), it's hard to imagine anybody benefiting more from the presence of a true big man than the Greek star.  Mullens' presence in the paint will allow Koufos to play much more to his strengths like we all saw tonight, and he could legitimately average 17-20 points per game assuming he progresses as expected.  A Koufos/Mullens/Lauderdale rotation in the frontcourt would almost undoubtedly create matchup nightmares for coaches throughout the Big 10 all season long.  So, consider this Around The Oval's official plea that one Konstantine Koufos hangs around for one more year.  He will benefit, the scouts will notice, and the Buckeyes will flourish.

As for the rest of the squad, I have no doubt that everybody will be able to make the necessary strides to contend for a conference title again next year.  Evan Turner is a star in the making -- given he learns to play much more under control, Dallas Lauderdale will be a defensive force that should easily replace Othello Hunter, and David Lighty will continue to improve and be a solid contributor.

Finally, no championship-related Buckeye basketball post would be complete without a special mention to Jamar Butler.  It was an up and down season for the team's captain and point guard, but he's been far and away my favorite player in the Thad Matta era.  This championship was won in typical Butler fashion: 19 points, eight assists, lots of clutch three pointers, and nobody really watching or caring all that much.  He's the school's all-time assists leader, and will perhaps go down as the most underrated feature player in school history.  

Thank you Jamar, and to the rest of the seniors as well.