Which comes first: football natty, women’s Final 4, men’s Elite 8?

Q: What are the implications of Ohio State's focus on football for its basketball programs?

Ohio State's emphasis on football may limit the resources and investment available for its basketball teams, potentially affecting their competitiveness.

Q: How have Ohio State's men’s and women’s basketball teams performed in recent years?

Both teams have faced challenges, with questions about their ceilings and overall success in the NCAA tournaments reflecting their current trajectories.

Q: Who is the head coach of the Ohio State men's basketball team?

The head coach of the Ohio State men's basketball team is Ryan Day, who is also the head coach of the football team.

Q: When do the NCAA basketball tournaments for men and women typically take place?

The NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments usually occur in March and early April, culminating in the Final Four events.

BOSTON, MA - MARCH 24: Head coach Thad Matta and the Ohio State Buckeyes cuts down the net after defeating the Syracuse Orange during the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional Final at TD Garden on March 24, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Throughout the year, we will be asking and answering questions about various Ohio State teams, the players, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us@LandGrant33or if you need more than 280 characters, send an emailHERE.****

Now that both the men’s and women’s basketball seasons are officially in the rearview mirror, we here at Land-Grant Holy Land are starting to look forward. One of the conversations that has circled around both of the Ohio State basketball programs in recent years has had to do with what their respective ceilings are. That is not only a question about the roster and coaching staff, but also the investment in the programs by the OSU athletic department.

There is obviously no question that Ohio State is a football school first and foremost. But is it so much of a football school that the commitment to Ryan Day’s program sucks away the resources that would otherwise allow the hoops teams to succeed?

That question is essentially at the heart of this week’s fan survey. We want to know which of the three primary programs at Ohio State will achieve an arbitrary goal first. So, take a look at the question below, and vote in the survey. If you want to dive a bit deeper into your answer, feel free to do so in the comments at the bottom of the page. Then check back later this week to see the result.

Then after that, if you are feeling really good in your prognosticating skills, you should head over to the FanDuel Sportsbook and use your big, beautiful brain to win some money, since they are sponsoring this article.

Question 1: What happens first?

You’ve got three options: an Ohio State football national championship, the men’s basketball team making the Elite 8, or the women’s squad advancing to the Final 4. Obviously, if I had just made the option a national title for all three teams, this would likely have been the first unanimous survey in LGHL history. So, I tried to give each program a milestone that seems within reach, but is not a foregone conclusion in any given year.

Obviously, the football team just won a national title in 2025, but it has been 13 years since the men made the Elite 8 and 30 years since the women were in the Final 4. However, given the success that the women’s team has had in recent years — including making the Elite 8 three years ago — it still feels just as possible for them to make the national semifinals as the men to make the Elite 8.

I am not going to bias this question by giving my opinion on this, but I will share my thoughts when we reveal the results later in the week. So, what do you have: a football natty, a women’s Final 4, or the men making the regional finals?