Ohio State is more known as a football school than a basketball school, but this year it can be both. Many see that they have a good team that can make some noise in the Big Ten and that’s what they’ve done so far. Ohio State has jumped from the number six team in the nation to number three in the AP top 25 rankings. This team has the potential to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament and they are showing it early on.
AP Top 25 Rankings: Ohio State Jumps To Number Three
How They Got Here
Ohio State is undefeated at 9-0 and off to a very strong start to the season and has some impressive wins under their belt. They’ve beaten a strong Cincinnati team to start the season and then beat Villanova two games later. They blew out a top ten team in North Carolina in Chapel Hill 74-49. Then three days later they blew out Penn State 106-74 at home in their Big Ten opener.
There have been several players that have contributed to the perfect record so far. One of them being Kaleb Wesson who is averaging 14.1 points per game which leads the team. Another who is having a strong season is Duane Washington Jr. who is averaging 11.4 points per game and has a field goal percentage of 52 and a three-point percentage of 53 which is tops on the team. They depend on him because they know he can make it when he has the ball. A player who is towards the bottom of the team in minutes but it producing is E.J Lindell. He averages just 16 minutes while the top guys average just over 20. E.J averages 7.2 points per game while shooting 50% from the field. He had 12 points and contributed to that blowout win against North Carolina.
Upcoming Games
Yes, Ohio State is undefeated and number three in the country but there is a lot of season left. They have a tough next few weeks including a tough month of January. OSU plays Minnesota and Kentucky on the road while they play at home against West Virginia this month but next month will be brutal. They will play Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Minnesota at home while they’ll play Maryland, Indiana, Penn State, and Northwestern on the road. If they can win the majority of those games, they’ll be in great shape and many will start believing in them if they haven’t already.
Final Whistle
Louisville remains at number one but Ohio State very well could’ve been put at number one. They beat UNC and Penn State by an average of 28.5 points this past week. OSU also has three wins over 25 points or more over KenPom top 25 teams. They are beating these teams at will and it’s not even close. As stated before, if they can get through these next two months, they will be in a good position to be one of the best in college basketball. Not only do they have a good chance to win it all in football but they have a good chance to win it all in college basketball if they keep this up.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
