USA TODAY played out a mock NCAA Tournament and did not like Ohio State at all

USA TODAY played out a hypothetical NCAA Tournament and won’t make any friends anywhere in Buckeye Nation. Ohio State had an early exit.

Ever since the NCAA decided to cancel this year’s NCAA basketball tournament because of coronavirus concerns, we’ve seen projections and simulations on what would have transpired if we all got our dose of March Madness like every other year.

And while some of those what-if scenarios have been relatively kind to Ohio State like the sportsline simulation, others have not.

Case in point — USA TODAY decided to hypothetically play out this year’s tournament and had one shocking twist for the basketball Buckeyes. Yes, it’s true that almost every year a No. 12 seed disposes of a No. 5. And, if you caught the tournament projections at the end of the season, that’s exactly where most had Ohio State firmly planted.

You see where we’re going?

So, to stay in lockstep with what normally happens, our friends at USA TODAY felt obligated to pick at least one upset from the No. 5 vs. No. 12 matchup, and guess what team was on the chopping block?

Yep, your Ohio State Buckeyes.

USA TODAY’s Scott Gleeson had Ohio State as the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region, matching up with No. 12 Northern Iowa. And wouldn’t you know it, that’s as far as the Buckeyes’ made it, falling prey to the upset bugaboo as one of the major upsets of the tournament.

That’s a far stretch, but one we’ve seen before so I guess we can’t get too upset. Still, I would have definitely liked the chances of some scarlet and gray making it to the second round if not further this year.

So who did USA TODAY put through to the Final Four and beyond? It had Dayton playing Oregon, and Kansas matching up with Florida State in the semifinal, with the Jayhawks getting the best of the Flyers to cut down the hypothetical nets.

Good thing this was just make-believe, eh Buckeye fans?