The Ohio State Buckeyes saw their Big Ten Tournament come to an early end on Wednesday, going down 77-70 to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first round.

It was a result that capped another underwhelming season in conference play for the Buckeyes, who went 9-11 in the Big Ten en route to posting a 17-15 regular-season record.

Ohio State was seeded 10th in the Big Ten Tournament, but the surprise defeat to the No. 15 seed Hawkeyes means the Buckeyes — which came despite 24 points from Bruce Thornton — will likely be watching the NCAA Tournament from home.

Indeed, the bracket projections from both ESPN and CBS do not make for pretty reading for the Buckeyes.

ESPN's bracketology has the Buckeyes listed among the First Four Out, while they do not feature anywhere on the CBS bracket, illustrating that the loss to Iowa has essentially ended their March Madness hopes.

It will mark a third straight season without NCAA Tournament appearance for the Buckeyes. They last played in the tournament in 2022, reaching the second round.

Last season saw Ohio State reach the quarterfinals of the NIT, and now Jake Diebler and his team will likely need to wait to see if they receive another invitation to attempt to win that consolation prize.