There are very few schools in the country that are able to compete in the highest level in both basketball and football. It’s one thing to enjoy a few years of relative success in both sports–the ability to rank among the powerhouses in both football and basketball is exceedingly rare. A few programs are able to do this–Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin–and Ohio State certainly has to rank in this very elite group. Ohio State’s football success is well known but the basketball team is also a top team nationally and has been so on a consistent basis for the better part of the century. The Buckeyes are one of just two schools (along with Villanova) to qualify for the NCAA basketball tournament in every decade since the 1930’s. All in all, Ohio State has made 30 NCAA tournament appearances (including 4 that were ‘vacated’ due to NCAA regulatory nonsense).
Thad Matta is the current coach of the Buckeyes’ basketball team and has continued the program’s legacy of success. Since being hired in 2004, Ohio State has won 20 or more games every year. Matta was hired to replace Jim O’Brien after he got the program into some hot water with the NCAA. It was clearly a good move–Matta has a record of 265-73 since taking over as the Buckeyes’ basketball coach. After failing to qualify for postseason play in his first year on the job Matta has taken Ohio State to the NCAA tournament eight times. The only year they *didn’t* qualify for the NCAA tournament under Matta was 2008 and they responded by winning the NIT tournament.
Ohio State plays their home games at the 19,000 seat Jerome Schottenstein Center which opened in 1998. The facility has a sponsorship relationship with Value City Furniture making the official current name the ‘Value City Arena’. The Schottenstein Center/Value City Arena is the largest in the Big 10 Conference and is also the home for the Ohio State hockey team. It is the third home court facility for the Buckeyes’ basketball team–previously the team played in the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (1920-1955) and the St. John Arena (1955-1998). The Schottenstein Center was completely renovated in 2013 with $19 million spent to keep the facility one of the best in the country.
The Buckeyes’ basketball team is on television frequently due to the school’s affiliation with the Big 10 conference and national popularity. ESPN shows several Big 10 basketball games per week and the Buckeyes’ get additional broadcast exposure through the conference’s dedicated TV network (‘The Big 10 Network‘) which is available on every major cable TV and satellite system. Both ESPN and the Big 10 Network offer streaming OSU basketball games online available from computers as well as smartphones and tablets. The ESPN/Big 10 Network streaming services require a cable TV subscription and/or and extra subscription fee.
For that reason, many fans prefer to watch Ohio State basketball online free of charge via Internet live streaming. Live sports streams aren’t difficult to find–there are a number of websites including Wiziwig.tv, Front Row Sports, and MyP2PTV that provide comprehensive directories of live streams organized by sport. The range of sports available through these sites is impressive and includes not only US sports but sports from all over the world. Once you locate the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball live stream you’ll be able to choose the format of the stream (Flash, StreamTorrent, AceStream, etc.) and the speed of the stream. This allows the viewer to fine tune the stream to best work with his individual Internet set up.
At this point, the viewer has a number of ways in which they can enjoy their streaming OSU basketball games online. With computer monitors becoming bigger and of better quality all the time, many fans choose to watch on their computer. Assuming you’ve got a big enough monitor (and it’s hard to find a computer with a monitor smaller than 21″ today) and a fast Internet connection you’re set. You can also watch the Ohio State basketball live stream on the go using a tablet or smartphone as most sites offer options compatible with both types of devices. Arguably the best way to watch the live streams, however, is with the new generation of set top streaming boxes. These devices work with your TV set via a HDMI cable and allow you to stream live video from the Internet. By using a Roku Player, Apple TV device or a Google Chromecast you can watch Ohio State basketball online free of charge with the best possible audio and a HD quality picture.