Skip to main content

Ohio State Men’s Basketball Drops To No. 23, Women’s Hoops Moves Up To No. 16 In AP Poll

By December 21, 2020 (2:00 pm)Basketball

The Ohio State men’s basketball team bounced back to beat UCLA after losing its first game to Purdue, dropping three spots to No. 23 in the Associated Press Poll, and the women’s hoops squad rose one spot to No. 16 without playing a game due to COVID-19. 

The 6-1 men’s basketball team fell 67-60 to Purdue before beating UCLA 77-70, but its first loss of the season caused the squad to drop to No. 23.

In the men’s poll, Gonzaga remained at No. 1 with Baylor at No. 2, while Kansas jumped three spots to No. 3, while Iowa dropped one spot to No. 4 and Villanova moved up two spots to No. 5. Michigan State fell from No. 4 to No. 12 after losing 79-65 to Northwestern, who is 5-1. 

Beyond the Buckeyes, Hawkeyes, and Spartans, the Big Ten boasts four other teams in this week’s AP poll. Wisconsin ranks No. 9, Rutgers is No. 11, Illinois ranks No. 18 and Michigan is No. 19.

Outside of the top 25 in the men’s poll, Indiana also received votes at No. 30, Purdue was No. 36, Northwestern ranked No. 38, and Minnesota was No. 40.

In the women’s poll, the Big Ten features five teams in No. 14 Maryland, No. 15. Northwestern, the No. 16 Buckeyes, No. 17 Michigan, No. 19 Indiana, and No. 25 Michigan State. Iowa is outside the top 25 at No. 38 with Rutgers ranked No. 39.

The women’s basketball team had its Dec. 15 matchup with St. Mary’s canceled due to COVID-19 and its Dec. 19 game against Iowa postponed last week, and its Dec. 23 matchup with Maryland and Dec. 31 game against Michigan State have already been postponed. Kevin McGuff’s squad is next scheduled to play Jan. 4 against Penn State.

The men’s basketball team returns to Value City Arena for a matchup with the No. 11-ranked Scarlet Knights on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 4:30 p.m. ET before traveling to Northwestern for a 2 p.m. tip on Saturday, Dec. 26.

What follows are the AP polls for both women’s basketball and men’s hoops:

Women’s Basketball AP Top 25 Poll

RKTEAMRECPTSTREND
1Stanford STAN (26)6-0742
2Louisville LOU (1)5-0693
3UConn CONN (1)4-0676
4NC State NCST (2)8-0674
5South Carolina SC5-1641
6Arizona ARIZ6-0600
7Baylor BAY7-1558
8Oregon ORE6-05571
9Texas A&M TA&M8-04911
10UCLA UCLA5-14611
11Arkansas ARK8-14351
12Mississippi State MSST5-14171
13Kentucky UK7-13914
14Maryland MD5-1381
15Northwestern NW3-03251
16Ohio State OSU4-02551
17Michigan MICH5-02482
18DePaul DEP4-22036
19Indiana IU3-21754
20Texas TEX5-11682
South Florida USF4-11683
22Syracuse SYR5-11074
23Gonzaga GONZ4-2822
24Missouri State MOST4-2764
25Michigan State MSU6-0551

Others receiving votes: Georgia 30, North Carolina 28, Oregon State 25, South Dakota State 21, Iowa State 19, Tennessee 12, Arizona State 8, Iowa 6, Rutgers 6, Wake Forest 4, Georgia Tech 4, Rice 3, Villanova 3, Alabama 2

Dropped from rankings: Oregon State 21

Men’s Basketball AP Top 25 Poll

RKTEAMRECPTSTREND
1GONZ(61)4-01597
2BAY(3)5-01538
3KU7-114262
4IOWA6-113651
5VILL7-113042
6HOU5-01272
7WVU7-112251
8TENN4-011092
9WISC6-110513
10TEX7-110351
11RUTG6-08788
12MSU6-18398
13CREI6-27734
14MIZ5-07682
15TTU6-26611
16UVA3-15101
17UNC5-24925
18ILL5-34685
19MICH6-03676
20DUKE3-23521
21FSU4-13356
22XAV8-02494
23OSU6-12453
24VT6-11812
25ORE6-11671

Others receiving votes: San Diego State 146, Richmond 142, Saint Louis 64, Arkansas 54, Indiana 53, Clemson 28, Florida 20, Georgia 19, Colorado 13, Purdue 9, BYU 9, Louisville 8, Northwestern 7, UCF 6, Minnesota 4, Oklahoma State 3, UCLA 3, LSU 2, Western Kentucky 2, SMU 1

Dropped from rankings: San Diego State 18, Louisville 23, Clemson 24

Photos courtesy of Dept. of Ohio State Athletics.

For four free issues of the print edition of Buckeye Sports Bulletin, no card required, sign up at the link here: https://www.buckeyesports.com/subscribe-4issue-trial/

image_pdfClick for PDFimage_printClick to Print