COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — For the second season in a row, the Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team is not going dancing in March.

The Buckeyes missed out on the 2024 NCAA Tournament, marking the first time since 2017 that Ohio State was left out of March Madness in consecutive seasons. The chances for OSU began to grow after a late-season surge spearheaded by interim head coach Jake Diebler, who replaced Chris Holtmann after he was fired on Feb. 14.

However, Ohio State’s postseason isn’t over. The Buckeyes are picked to play in the National Invitational Tournament, a 32-team tournament for the best sides that miss out on March Madness bids. The Buckeyes, seeded No. 2 in the bottom left bracket, will host Cornell in the first round on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The NIT is set to start on Tuesday. To download the bracket, click here.

The Buckeyes last played in the NIT in 2016 under head coach Thad Matta, losing in the second round. Under Matta, OSU won the NIT in 2008 one year after making the NCAA championship game. 2008 is the last time the Buckeyes won a postseason tournament.

Under Diebler, the Buckeyes won six of its last seven regular season games to put themselves in the conversation of an NCAA bid. The strong run for the Buckeyes earned Diebler the full-time position with Ohio State making the hire official on Sunday afternoon.

After a 90-78 win over Iowa in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, Ohio State fell to Illinois 77-74 in the quarterfinals. Despite the late run, the early Big Ten struggles proved too much to overcome to put OSU in the NCAA.

While Holtmann was coaching, Ohio State got off to a fast start going 12-2 to start the season. Among the wins during that stretch included an upset over Alabama and a 67-60 win over UCLA. The Buckeyes then fell off in conference play, going 2-9 in Holtmann’s final games as the head coach.

The bracket for the 2024 NCAA Tournament can be downloaded by clicking here.