Ohio State’s 80-72 upset win over No. 19 Texas to open the season on Nov. 4 turned the heads of many in the college basketball world, including AP voters.
For the first time since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, the Buckeyes are ranked within the AP top 25, sitting at No. 21 in the Week 2 poll released on Nov. 11.
Ohio State earned 29 votes for the AP top 25 in the preseason poll — the eighth-most by any unranked team to start the year — but after the win over the Longhorns it is back in the poll for the first time since Jan. 2, 2023, when the Buckeyes were ranked No. 24 after a 73-57 win over Northwestern the day before. Ohio State was ranked for four weeks that season (Weeks 4, 5, 6 and 9) but fell out of the rankings for good after losing 14 of its last 15 games and ending the season 16-19 and 5-15 in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes then did not earn a spot in the rankings all of last season, a year in which they got off to a slow start (14-11, 4-10 Big Ten) before firing head coach Chris Holtmann and elevating Jake Diebler.
This season, the Buckeyes are off to a 1-0 start and are hoping to stay ranked entering Week 3 of the poll. Ohio State will play its home opener Monday night against Youngstown State and then travel to Texas A&M on Friday night in what should be a more difficult contest.
Ohio State is one four Big Ten teams in the top 25 poll, joining No. 13 Purdue, No. 16 Indiana and No. 24 Rutgers. Kansas holds the top spot in the poll for the second straight week, followed by No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 UConn, No. 4 Gonzaga and No. 5 Auburn.
