Kyle Grantham / Staff Photographer / kg116806@ohiou.edu

Men’s basketball coach Tim O’Shea laughs as he pokes fun at the shot decision of Bert Whittington IV during the post-game press conference following Ohio’s 71-59 win over Kent State on Jan. 19.

Ohio fans should be familiar with the number 19. It’s the number of wins the Bobcats have heading into this week’s Mid-American Conference Tournament and Ohio’s season-ending win total for the past two seasons.

But should the Bobcats be disappointed that 19 is their average number of wins over the past four years? For Tim O’Shea, the answer is no.

“People so badly want to be a part of the NCAA Tournament that it tends to be the one thing everyone focuses on,” O’Shea said. “And it’s by no means easy to get there, especially in any league like ours that really only sends one team to the tournament.”

There is, however, the opinion that the Bobcats should expect, and achieve, more. And the person who often receives the brunt of that criticism is O’Shea, who made $198,230 this year and has two years remaining on his contract.

For example: In his seven years as head coach, O’Shea won a MAC Championship, but that was his only 20-win season. His teams have beaten big-name, nonconference opponents (Maryland, North Carolina), but lost games they were expected to lose as well (Kansas, Kentucky).

Ohio wins most games they play at home but so does the rest of the conference, and they don’t regularly triumph over life on the road in the MAC.

O’Shea is aware of his critics, but at the same time isn’t willing to stew over popular perception of his team.

“You can’t worry about stuff like that,” O’Shea said. “It’s impossible to make everyone who follows a team happy. But honestly, that’s one thing I really do like about this job — people care. They take an interest in the team, they sit in the stands and watch the games. I’m not sure how I’d feel about it in a 24-loss season, though.”

And believe him or not, O’Shea said he and his family do enjoy the life they have in Athens.

“I really do like it here,” O’Shea said, adding that he’s not sure why people assume he doesn’t. “I’ve heard that here since day one, though, partially because I replaced (12-year coach) Larry (Hunter) — a guy who was from Athens, went to Athens High School and was well liked. I understand that.”

What tends to be overlooked is that all but one of O’Shea’s players have graduated, and that the Bobcats regularly take risks with their nonconference schedule, unlike some MAC teams.

O’Shea explained that his scheduling strategy since he came to Ohio has been to expose the program through playing notable opponents and perhaps snagging a few unlikely victories rather than just playing for money or easy wins. This plan, with its perils and high chance of more nonconference losses, has been accepted by both former Athletics Director Thomas Boeh and current Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt.

Sure, his players admit, 20 wins might be nice, but it’s really not much more than a number.

“I’d rather play Kansas and Maryland than play either a Division II team or low major team like some teams in the MAC do,” guard Bubba Walther said. “Even though it was a bad day when we played Kansas, I’d rather play them than not play anyone very good at all just to say we have 20 wins. Those are some experiences you’ll never forget.”

This season, Kent State hosted Longwood University, who just joined Division I this season. Akron also hosted a new member to Division I, North Carolina Central.

While Ohio may be short of the popular landmark, the Bobcats averaged 19 wins over the past four seasons, which is the third highest in the entire conference behind only Kent State and Akron (tied at 22). Miami and Western Michigan follow the Bobcats, averaging 17 wins each since the 2004-2005 season.

Leon Williams agreed with Walther and said he’d rather play tougher opponents, but that ultimately it’s the team that needs to focus and find a way to not end yet another year with 19 wins.

“Both this season and last season have been a bit of a let down just because there were games where we didn’t perform to the best of our ability,” Williams said. “We could have had 20 wins already if we did what we were originally supposed to do, but we can still get there this week.”