NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament cinderellas since 2000
By Adam Childs
18) 2012 Ohio Bobcats, No. 13-seed
Record: 29-8, Sweet 16
Beat: (4) Michigan Wolverines, (12) South Florida Bulls
The 2011-12 Ohio Bobcats got the automatic bid from the MAC by winning the conference tournament over the Akron Zips. They held off a late charge to beat them and become somewhat of a surprise winner after going 11-5 and finishing third in the regular season.
The Bobcats didn’t have any great wins during the season. So they would not have gotten an at-large bid had they not won the tournament. Unfortunately for the Michigan Wolverines, they became the Bobcats’ first victims in the tournament via upset fashion.
D.J. Cooper led Ohio in scoring during the season. He would become a thorn in the side of the Wolverines, along with Ohio State Buckeyes transfer Walter Offutt. Cooper would score a game-high 21 points in the first round. Michigan had no answers for Ohio.
The Bobcats used a 15-2 run to take a six-point lead into halftime. Despite Michigan closing it to within three late in the game, Ohio came up with enough stops to close out the shocking upset.
Ohio would face the South Florida Bulls in the second round after the Bulls upset the Temple Owls in the first round. Offutt would lead the scoring this game, as he dropped 21 points to help the Bobcats advance to the Sweet 16 with a six-point win.
Ohio’s run would end against the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels the next weekend, but not without a fight. The Bobcats battled back from a seven-point halftime hole and tied the game with a chance to take the lead. However, Offutt would miss the free throw with 25 seconds left and then the game would go into overtime.
North Carolina dominated the extra frame and would come away with an eight-point win, but the Bobcats proved they belonged. They almost become the first No. 13-seed or higher to make it the Elite Eight since the tournament expanded, but came up just short.