The Buckeyes were a team put together with duct tape, but turned into something indestructible. It’s truly a rags to riches story for the program.

South Dakota State doesn’t get a lot of press as they play in lightly-populated state in a small conference. They should get more respect as they have a Summit League championship contending team every single year.

Ohio State is the better overall team, but South Dakota State may have the better overall player in this game. Can the Jackrabbits upset the Buckeyes?

Who do you think will win? 

Do you have #5 Ohio State Buckeyes or #12 South Dakota State Jackrabbits?

No one, and I mean no one, thought Ohio State had a chance in hell of making the NCAA Tournament this year. New head coach Chris Holtmann left a pretty sweet job at Butler for a sinking ship. Once Thad Matta left, there were some recruits leaving on rowboats. Holtmann did the coaching job of his life to turn what was left into a Big Ten title contender. Keita Bate-Diop went from a rotation guy to Big Ten Player of the Year. If Penn State weren’t in the Big Ten, Ohio State would probably be a #3 seed. I’m not quite sure why the Nittany Lions had the Buckeyes number this season as they beat then all three times.

South Dakota State has been the cream of the crop in The Summit League. I keep close tabs on the Summit League as my alma mater IPFW (or Fort Wayne, or whatever they go by now) is in that conference. Mike Daum has been the best player in the Summit League for a couple seasons. He’s a double-double machine that has a nice three-point stroke. He would be a solid player on any team.

It would be a nice for the Jackrabbits to get a win for Daum, but I don’t see Ohio State losing in the first round. They’ve improved too much to throw it down the drain. Holtmann will get them ready to play.

Prediction: #5 Ohio State Buckeyes

**Check out the rest of our NCAA Tournament picks** 

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.