Ohio making tournament history as a double-digit seed underdog

Later tonight, Ohio plays in its second round of 32 game in three years, taking on No. 12 seed South Florida (7:10 p.m., TBS).

Once again, Ohio is a double-digit seed, a team that pulled off a big upset to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

With the stunning upsets from No. 15 seeds Norfolk State and Lehigh Friday night, some of the attention shifted away from the Bobcats' defeat of No. 4 seed Michigan. But what Ohio has done in its past two tournament appearances is nothing to look past.

Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only sixteen No. 14 seeds have beaten No. 3 seeds in the first round. 23 No. 13 seeds have knocked off No. 4 seeds.

Ohio falls in both of those categories - and that's unique.

Only six other schools have won multiple tournament games as a No. 13 or lower seed.

•  Xavier: 1987 (13), 1991 (14)
•  Cleveland State: 1986 (14), 2009 (13)
•  Richmond: 1988 (13), 1991 (15), 1998 (14)
•  Murray State: 1988 (14), 2010 (13)
•  Weber State: 1995 (14), 1999 (14)
•  Siena: 1989 (14), 2008 (13)

Most on that list did it decades apart, with different players and coaches. None did it twice in three years, as the Bobcats now have in 2010 and 2012.

Murray State was a top 10 team this season and would have been in the NCAA Tournament even if it didn't win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Xavier was an at-large selection and has been to six straight tournaments, reaching two Sweet 16s and two regional finals in the last decade. Richmond reached the Sweet 16 last year as a No. 12 seed.

What this shows is that winning tournament games as a big underdog can be a starting point to prolonged success. Continually winning tournament games gains you respect and creates an increased national profile.

Ohio will be able to bring in better recruits, schedule higher profile out-of-conference games, build a higher RPI.

There's no telling how long John Groce will stick around or if he could hand off the program to another coach and keep it at this level. But with the entire team coming back next season, Ohio has scary potential looking forward.

For now though, Ohio's focus is on tonight, knocking off another major conference team in the tournament and raising the bar higher.