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Ohio State (17-14)

The 10th-seeded Buckeyes best player is ... Bruce Thornton. The junior guard makes Ohio State go, leading the team in scoring and assists (and the entire Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio). Not to mention he's the team's best three-point shooter. Thornton isn't all that far off from a 50/40/90 season either at 50/43/85.

Their best chance of a run in Indianapolis is ... Devin Royal playing more like he did against Illinois (29 points, seven rebounds) and Michigan (26 points, five rebounds) and less like he did the rest of February when he scored 27 points total in the other five games. That he's averaging 16 points and 6.3 rebounds in his last three outings is a positive sign.

Their NCAA tournament outlook is ... wholly dependent on at least getting to the second round of the Big Ten tournament. The Buckeyes are already on the bubble and looking like a prime candidate to make the short drive to Dayton, Ohio, for the First Four. Losing on Wednesday in Indianapolis pops their bubble and sets them up to be a College Basketball Crown candidate.

Iowa (15-15)

The 15th-seeded Hawkeyes best player is ... going through the least efficient offensive season of his career. Payton Sandfort still leads all active Iowa players (Owen Freeman was ruled out in early February and is the Hawkeyes' best player) averaging 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists. The issue? Sandfort has a career worst shooting slash of 40/33/89.

Their best chance of a run in Indianapolis is ... Sandfort and Josh Dix making an incredible number of three-pointers. The Hawkeyes' path to a Big Ten tournament title would run through a series of teams that can exploit their thin, mostly ineffective frontcourt. Sandfort and Dix have made roughly four threes per game this season. That number needs to be way higher.

Their NCAA tournament outlook is ... a moot point unless they can win five games in five days. Sneaking in the back door of the Big Ten tournament with Sunday's win at Nebraska, Iowa doesn't even have the bubble in sight. Considering no Big Ten team has ever made the Wednesday-through-Sunday run to a title, an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament seems improbable.

Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is , and you can follow him on Twitter ( @srrichey ).