Ohio State received the No. 16 spot in the USA Today preseason poll for Division I men’s basketball.
The news comes just a few days after the Buckeyes received the No. 18 spot in the AP preseason poll, marking the first time Ohio State had been ranked in the preseason polls since 2014-15.
The Buckeyes will host Cedarville for a preseason exhibition on Wed., Oct. 30 (7 p.m., BTN-Plus online only). A week later, Ohio State opens the regular season Nov. 6 against Cincinnati at Value City Arena.
Despite Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo announcing wing Joshua Langford will miss the first half of the season due to a foot injury, the Spartans are listed as the preseason No. 1 team in the nation.
The Green and White received 30 of the 32 first-place votes. Behind Michigan State in the polls are No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Louisville. Kansas and Duke each had one first-place vote.
Ohio State’s regular-season schedule includes seven games against teams ranked in the preseason coaches poll, including No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 8 Maryland (two games), No. 10 Villanova, No. 11 North Carolina and No. 22 Purdue.
Ohio State has six more games against other teams receiving votes in the coaches poll, including Illinois, Cincinnati, Wisconsin (two games) and Michigan (two games).
Below are the full top 25 rankings, including the amount of points each team received.
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan State | 0-0 | 792 | 30 | NR | — | 1/NR |
| 2 | Kentucky | 0-0 | 734 | 0 | NR | — | 2/NR |
| 3 | Kansas | 0-0 | 687 | 1 | NR | — | 3/NR |
| 4 | Duke | 0-0 | 683 | 1 | NR | — | 4/NR |
| 5 | Louisville | 0-0 | 670 | 0 | NR | — | 5/NR |
| 6 | Florida | 0-0 | 619 | 0 | NR | — | 6/NR |
| 7 | Gonzaga | 0-0 | 544 | 0 | NR | — | 7/NR |
| 8 | Maryland | 0-0 | 536 | 0 | NR | — | 8/NR |
| 9 | Virginia | 0-0 | 532 | 0 | NR | — | 9/NR |
| 10 | Villanova | 0-0 | 531 | 0 | NR | — | 10/NR |
| 11 | North Carolina | 0-0 | 503 | 0 | NR | — | 11/NR |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 0-0 | 417 | 0 | NR | — | 12/NR |
| 13 | Seton Hall | 0-0 | 403 | 0 | NR | — | 13/NR |
| 14 | Oregon | 0-0 | 344 | 0 | NR | — | 14/NR |
| 15 | Memphis | 0-0 | 331 | 0 | NR | — | 15/NR |
| 16 | Ohio State | 0-0 | 280 | 0 | NR | — | 16/NR |
| 17 | Arizona | 0-0 | 229 | 0 | NR | — | 17/NR |
| 18 | Baylor | 0-0 | 228 | 0 | NR | — | 18/NR |
| 19 | Utah State | 0-0 | 218 | 0 | NR | — | 19/NR |
| 20 | St. Mary’s | 0-0 | 163 | 0 | NR | — | 20/NR |
| 21 | Xavier | 0-0 | 149 | 0 | NR | — | 21/NR |
| 22 | Purdue | 0-0 | 123 | 0 | NR | — | 22/NR |
| 23 | Auburn | 0-0 | 105 | 0 | NR | — | 23/NR |
| 24 | LSU | 0-0 | 86 | 0 | NR | — | 24/NR |
| 25 | Tennessee | 0-0 | 78 | 0 | NR | — | 25/NR |
